Statistics reveal that road deaths are on course to reach 1.9 million a year by 2020 if the message regarding road safety is not heeded rapidly. The number of accidents caused by wet road conditions increases in winter by 267%, with 6,393 more accidents involving cars in winter than during the summer months. In an average winter approximately 2 million tonnes of rock salt is used. However, there is more that individuals could be doing to keep themselves safe.

Temperatures below 7ºC are experienced throughout the UK between October and March, during which time the UK spends £1551m on winter road maintenance covering the primary and local road networks. During the winter, wear on normal tyres can increase by 20% and when temperatures drop below 7ºC, stopping distance increases by between three and 12 metres. Additionally at these low temperatures the rubber in tyres hardens giving less grip.

There are almost 30 million drivers on the UK roads but despite 78% of people knowing that not checking tyre pressures can lead to accidents, only a quarter of men and a fifth of women check weekly (recommended). In addition, more than one in ten drivers have tyres worn beyond their 1.6 mm tread depth limit which increases our stopping distance by up to 8 metres at 50mph, in wet conditions, than if the tyre tread was 3mm.