Impacts of tyres on safety

All steering, braking and accelerating forces between a vehicle and the road are mediated by the tyres. The tyres are the most active safety equipment of your car – your car is kept on the road and you in control of your car by four contact areas the size of your palm.

The role of the tyres in the safety or a car is especially pronounced under demanding and quickly-changing conditions: on snow or ice, on a wet road or in surprising situations.

Proper tread and tyre pressure are vital to the functionality of tyres. When tyres wear out, the tyres’ wet grip and aquaplaning properties essentially deteriorate, and the risk of accidents increases. Tyres lacking sufficient pressure make controlling the car under extreme situations more difficult and allow for the steering to pull more to the side; insufficient tyre pressure may even cause a blow-out.

The demanding conditions of the north demand much from tyres. The tyre must retain its grip on the road even under wretched weather conditions. Road surface friction in the wintertime varies between the fraction coefficient 0.1 for wet ice to the coefficient of almost one for dry tarmac.  In addition to absolute grip, the correct relation between lateral and longitudinal grip ensures good anticipatory properties and steering response even in a blizzard or watery slush.