Under pressure? Don’t let tyres be one.

Why poor driver behaviour and incorrect inflation put fleets, drivers, and businesses at risk

Each October, TyreSafe leads the UK’s largest annual tyre safety awareness campaign, Tyre Safety Month. In 2025, the campaign theme – “Under Pressure? Don’t let tyres be one” – highlights the impact of daily life stress on driving behaviour, vehicle maintenance, and, crucially, tyre safety.

Our new research with 2,000 UK drivers reveals a stark reality: over one in three motorists admit stress has affected their driving. Nearly half (46%) fail to check tyre pressures monthly, and one in six rely solely on the dashboard warning light. These habits are not only unsafe – they’re costly for businesses and, potentially, life-threatening on the roads.

The Safety Consequences of Neglected Tyres

Tyres are the only contact point between a vehicle and the road. When neglected, they quickly become a weak link in the safety chain:

• Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI) incidents: On average, 153 people are killed or seriously injured each year in collisions involving defective tyres. In 2024 this figure rose to 172 – a five-year high. (DfT, Reported Road Casualties GB, 2025)
• Stopping distances: At 70mph, a worn tyre adds 27 metres to stopping distance — the length of seven family cars. Research shows worn tyres affect braking in wet conditions seven times more than alcohol. (Halfords / Cardiff University)
• Fatal collisions: Analysis of fatal crash data shows that 75% of tyre defects in fatal incidents were due to poor maintenance. (National Highways / TRL)

These figures underline the reality: tyre neglect is not an inconvenience — it is a direct cause of preventable deaths and injuries.

Poor Inflation: A Common but Costly Risk

The most common driver error is incorrect inflation. Both under- and over-inflation cause safety and financial problems:

• Under-inflation leads to excessive flexing, poor handling, longer stopping distances, and premature wear on the tyre edges. It also makes tyres more vulnerable to catastrophic blowouts.
• Over-inflation reduces grip, increases wear along the tread centre, and compromises stability and braking performance.

The economic impact is just as striking. According to The Motor Ombudsman, over £1 billion of fuel is wasted every year in the UK due to under-inflated tyres. More than half of the tyres on the road are estimated to be running below the recommended pressure, needlessly increasing costs for drivers and businesses.

For fleet operators, these inefficiencies add up to thousands in wasted fuel and accelerated tyre replacement costs across an entire vehicle parc. Not to mention the millions additionally spent by businesses in repairs to vehicles involved in incidents, which in turn lead to higher insurance premiums and operational costs.

Driver Behaviour Under Pressure

TyreSafe’s Under Pressure research shows the link between stress, poor habits, and tyre neglect:

• 86% of drivers feel stressed weekly, with younger drivers and women most affected.
• 34% feel anxious about vehicle maintenance at least once a month, citing cost and inconvenience as the biggest barriers.
• 35% admit stress has directly affected their driving, leading to missed turns, loss of concentration, near-misses, or aggressive behaviour.

This behavioural insight is crucial for employers managing fleets. Stress is not just a wellbeing issue – it spills over into vehicle safety risks when drivers neglect basic checks.

MOT Failures and Compliance Gaps

Official MOT data reinforces the scale of the problem. Each year, millions of vehicles fail their MOT due to defective tyres. In 2023-24 alone, 2.39 million unique vehicles failed their MOT on tyre defects, the highest level ever recorded. In total, 3.35 million individual tyre defects were logged by testers in this period.

Most alarmingly, 2.38 million of these failures were classified as ‘dangerous’ defects, meaning the vehicle posed an immediate risk to road safety. Within this, more than 603,000 vehicles were found with tyres exposing plies or cords – a catastrophic condition that can cause sudden blowouts at speed – while 1.16 million failures were due to tread depth below the legal minimum of 1.6mm.

Equally concerning, 36% of these vehicles had previously been issued with a tyre advisory at an earlier MOT, yet drivers had failed to act. This regulatory gap means many vehicles continue to operate on tyres already bordering on illegality. For fleets, that translates to increased exposure to roadside prohibitions, compliance breaches, financial penalties, and reputational harm.

What Businesses Can Do

For employers, embedding tyre safety into fleet culture is both a duty of care and a cost-saving measure. TyreSafe recommends adopting the ACT principle:

• Air Pressure: Check at least once a month and before long journeys. Always adjust when towing or carrying heavy loads.
• Condition: Look for cuts, bulges, cracks, and uneven wear.
• Tread Depth: The legal minimum is 1.6mm, but safety tests show performance is significantly improved at 3mm.

Where to find pressures

Vehicle manufacturers’ recommended pressures are listed in the handbook, fuel filler cap, or door sill. TyreSafe also provides a free online tyre pressure checker by vehicle registration.

How to check

Use a reliable gauge at petrol stations, invest in an at-home digital gauge, or consult a professional if in doubt. Modern TPMS systems provide alerts, but they are no substitute for manual checks.

The Case for Action

Tyre safety remains one of the most preventable road safety risks. With millions of vehicles covering an average of 6,082 miles per year (DfT, National Travel Survey 2025), the impact of poor tyre care is multiplied many times over.

For businesses, the message is clear:

• Regular tyre checks reduce incidents and downtime.
• Correct inflation saves fuel and extends tyre life.
• Proactive maintenance cuts costs, emissions, and risk exposure.

Work life, or business these days has enough pressures, tyres need not be one of them. Ensure that as part of your business operations, drivers and riders undertake important daily checks and ACT: Air Pressure, Condition and Tread