BRENTWOOD, Essex, 19 November 2009 – Ford is underlining its commitment to road safety by highlighting how young drivers should maintain their cars.
Working with the AA, its roadside assistance partner, Ford has outlined key ways to address potential hazards ahead of National Road Safety Week from November 23.
“Young drivers are more at risk of getting into difficult situations,” said Andy Barratt, Ford customer service director. “Pressures on young people's finances can mean skimping on essential servicing, care and maintenance. This can be dangerous, especially as their vehicles are likely to be older.”
Ford is highlighting the need for owners of older vehicles to maintain services schedules as they would with a brand new car.
“We are aware that people run their cars to a budget and in the current climate that budget may have been trimmed,” said Andy. “Ford offers free tyre inspections to our customers – and Ford has introduced its £99 Value Service for vehicles over three years old.
For just £99 cars receive a service and inspection of all consumable items such as wiper blades, wiring, hoses and exhausts. It extends to the transmission, brakes and running gear and even includes details such as dashboard illumination.
Included in Ford's £99 Value Service is up to one year European Roadside Assistance cover. This is available until the end of 2009 and customers receive cover for either 12 months or until their next service (whichever occurs first).
For National Road Safety Week, the AA researched its principal area of concern – tyres. “The one component connected car to the road are its tyres and 45 per cent of UK motorists don’t know the minimum legal tread depth for tyres – which is a total of nearly 17 million people,” said Andrew Howard, the AA’s head of road safety.
“To drive safely, you need the right tyres in good condition, as they affect the steering, braking and acceleration of your vehicle – particularly at this time of year. On a wet road, worn tyres can mean braking distances increase by up to 70 per cent.”
Latest figures show that two per cent of all fatal accidents were caused by illegal, defective or under-inflated tyres.
“It is a legal requirement to ensure that the tread on your tyres has not worn below 1.6mm, that there is no mixing of radial or cross-ply tyres and that tyres are correctly inflated without any structural damage,” said Andrew Howard. “Any one of these faults not only endangers the driver, passengers and other road users, but can also incur substantial fines and points on your licence – all more reasons to check your tyres regularly.”
