How to check your tyre wear and avoid fines?

Tyres are one of the most important parts of a vehicle. Their maintenance, in order to achieve the greatest possible safety at the wheel, is mandatory. Today we will learn how to prevent their wear and inform you of possible penalties.

So that your tyres never fail, and so you can be sure you are driving as safely as possible in this respect, you must follow three basic maintenance rules: periodically check the pressure, look for visual imperfections and monitor the wear of the tyres.

Tyres in poor condition are a danger to you and to the other road users. They can cause skidding in many situations, especially when taking a bend. Furthermore, if the police notice, you could be seriously penalised for committing an offence against road safety.

Below we will look at the simplest ways to check the wear on your tyres, so that you can avoid unpleasant situations:

• Wear indicator: all tyres have wear indicators. These are rubber pieces 1.6 mm thick embedded in the bottom of the tyre grooves; sometimes they are even a colour that contrasts with the rubber. The way to check using this method is simple: if these indicators are worn or missing, it means it is time to replace the tyres with new ones in perfect condition.

• Depth gauges: this useful tool is available in any car shop and at many petrol stations. The wear indicator is only a visual tool that lets you see the wear superficially. A depth gauge can measure the wear across the tyre to find imperfections in different areas.

• The coin trick: although a depth gauge is very cheap, you always have the option of making the typical measurement by eye with the coin trick. To identify wear on summer tyres, insert a €1 coin into the grooves; if the edge of the coin is still visible, you should consider replacing the tyre.
  If they are winter tyres, use a €2 coin: if the silver edge sticks out of the groove, it means the tyre is worn.

Can you be fined for driving on worn tyres?

If the police notice that your tyres are worn, you can be fined. The penalty for breaking this rule is not negligible: a fine that can reach €200 per affected tyre. Furthermore, if the wear were truly excessive, the police could immobilise your vehicle, so be very careful, because the fine itself could end up costing you more than replacing your tyres.