Pressure on for air line gauge accuracy!
It is very important for the overall safety of your vehicle that your car tyres are correctly inflated.
Most drivers will use petrol forecourt tyre pressure gauges - but what about if you are concerned that the tyre pressure reading is inaccurate?
One Warwickshire driver called upon Warwickshire County Council’s Trading Standards Service to investigate after he became concerned that a tyre pressure gauge he had used at a petrol station in Warwick was grossly inaccurate. This led Trading Standards Officers to undertake a testing project to find out if this was a common problem or an isolated case.
There are three main reasons why maintaining the right tyre pressure is important. The first is safety. Tyres that are under inflated can overheat; while over inflated tyres can lead to poor handling on the road.
The second reason is cost-efficiency. Over or under inflated tyres suffer more damage than those with the correct pressure and need to be replaced more regularly. Vehicles with under-inflated tyres also require more fuel to maintain the same speed.
The third reason for maintaining the correct tyre pressure is that it helps to extend the legal life of the tyre, saving you time and money. This is because a tyre with the correct tyre pressure avoids premature or uneven wear.
A Trading Standards Officer visited 24 petrol station forecourts across the county, and examined the accuracy of the airline machines at each location using an accurate test gauge. Seventeen airlines passed the tests conducted on them whilst a further five airlines were found to be out of order.
However, two air line machines, or 8% of the total number tested were found to be very inaccurate. The two petrol stations were located in Warwick and Bedworth and with the cooperation of both businesses the air line machines have now been taken out of service.
At the Bedworth garage the air line machine was so inaccurate that when its gauge read 20 psi, the correct reading was actually 80 psi!
Noel Hunter, Director of Warwickshire Trading Standards Service said:
"Ensuring the accuracy of weighing and measuring equipment is one of our services traditional roles. However, even in today’s modern and fast moving society it still has a crucial role to play in helping to ensure that consumers are safe, protected, and not ripped off!"
Further work is now planned for the future.
Warwickshire consumers concerned about the accuracy of any type of weighing and measuring equipment used to delivery goods or services can contact Warwickshire Trading Standards Service on 01926 414040.