Few mums think about tyre pressure when considering family safety

ERJ staff report (DS)

Findlay, Ohio -- A recent survey of US mothers revealed that only one percent of them consider maintaining their tyres a priority when they think of "keeping their children safe."

Mothers were asked to rank areas they pay the most attention to, regarding their children, and what proactive steps they take to benefit their families. Buying nutritious groceries ranked the highest, by more than 90 percent, with encouraging daily exercise, daily teeth brushing and non-required reading outside of school following behind. Although safety ranked highest as the category mothers pay the most attention to overall, beating out health, nutrition and education, less than one percent of responses reported automotive maintenance as a tactic to ensure their child's safety, with zero responses mentioning tyre safety. An alarming finding, especially as almost half of the mothers surveyed revealed spending more than four hours per week shuttling their kids around town.

Mothers are also considerably unfamiliar with how to conduct proper tyre maintenance techniques. Nine out of 10 mothers do not regularly maintain their vehicles, leaving the duties to a male household member or professional. A quarter of the mothers surveyed do not know how to find their vehicle's correct tyre pressure, properly check tyre pressure and tread depth, or change a tyre.

The survey was conducted by conducted by Cooper Tire & Rubber, in partnership with Cars.com and MotherProof.com.

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Press release from Cooper Tire