Road accidents can be reduced if we take note of the ratings on the tires of our vehicle by the manufacturer. I read online today that every tire has a specific pressure of which it can accommodate. To confirm this I went to the tire of my Dad's car, and yes it is true I found it there, the maximum amount of pressure and load the tire should accommodate, written on it.
Well, a number of accidents on the road today are caused by tire burst and this can be controlled if we actually know how to rightly pressurised vehicle tires.
Generally a lot of people pressurise air tires without gauge thereby not knowing the exact amount of pressure contained in it and this is not a very healthy habit. Take for example one who is travelling a long distance. As we all know, our roads are made of asphalt which contains high level of heat or rather, traps a lot of heat energy from the sun rays and while tires are are in motion, friction between the tire and the ground also generates heat. In physics, pressure in the container increases as heat increases but in this case the container here is our tire, if the air in the tire expands and causes the pressure to rise above the capacity of which the tire can accommodate, it gives away in a blast. You can assume if the driver was driving at a high-speed, the probability a fatal accident in this case is very high, maybe if the driver is very skilled this may help but actually skill in this case is not a saving factor because these things don't usually give you warning before occurrence.
Note that this is not limited to just cars alone, this applies to Bicycles, motorbikes, cars, trucks and heavy duty vehicles too, in fact every air pressured tire.
To find where the amount of pressure and load your tires can accommodate is written, look just on the tire around the rim of your wheel and you should find the maximum load and pressure written clearly. Commonly for load, it is written with units of Kg(kilogram) and LBS(pounds) also PSI(pounds per square inch) and kPa(kilo pascal) for pressure. Written in the form below.
MAX.LOAD 530Kg (1168LBS) COLD
MAX.PRESSURE 280kPa (41PSI) COLD
common for 185/65R14 tires from my study.
You can see clearly how it is written, this is the rating for a tire with higher load and pressure capacity, this is different from that of my Dad's above.
We will do Ourselves a great deal of good if we pressurise our tires using gauge and also understand that they always should be room for expansion. some pressure gauge you can buy cheaply can be found in car parts shop or gas stores around you.
Always take note of calibration when buying, buy pressure gauge with calibration you are familiar with.
But then again, tires are part of the car and not the other way round. Car manufacturers tells us exactly how much pressure which should be inflated in our tires, this vary from one car to another.
You you could see the right pressure gauging when you open the driver's door of the car. It is safe you have an idea of your car's ideal tire pressure before you pump your tires, this has to go hand-in-hand with the ratings on the tires too. Above is a picture showing you where you can find the PSI or kPa rating for the tires of every car. You can find it at the driver's side door frame when it is open. View below.
I hope this has enlightened us all, drive safe and share this info to a friend or two, just you might just save a life! Enjoy.
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