Pancake Day serves as an ideal occasion to ensure your car's tyre pressures are accurate, according to GEM Motoring Assist, a specialist in road safety and breakdown recovery. While flat pancakes are great, driving with a flat tyre is illegal as it diminishes your vehicle's traction and compromises handling, warns GEM.
This can lead to unpredictable vehicle behaviour and heightens the likelihood of a tyre blowout involving sudden, rapid deflation, risking serious damage to the tyre and your car's steering mechanism.
Despite these dangers, research from Tyresafe indicates that over half of the UK's cars have underinflated tyres, resulting in increased fuel consumption and decreased cornering and braking capabilities.
Checking your car's tyre pressures takes just a few minutes and is crucial for ensuring your vehicle's safety systems operate at their best.
GEM's road safety adviser, James Luckhurst, emphasises, "Pancakes should be flat, but tyres definitely should not. That's why we urge drivers to inspect their tyres today (Tuesday, 13 February) and regularly throughout the year.
"Properly inflated tyres with adequate tread enable all other safety systems in a car to function effectively. In an unexpected emergency, this could play a significant role in determining the outcome and safeguarding those involved.
"Under-inflated tyres hinder your vehicle's grip on the road and compromise handling, leading to unpredictable behaviour and an increased risk of a tyre blowout. So, please prioritise checking your tyres. Before serving a stack of flat pancakes, set aside five minutes today for a potentially life-saving tyre check."
