Knowledge of Tyre Pressures and Tyre Care among Vehicle Drivers in Benin City, Nigeria

Abstract

Road traffic related injuries and deaths remain a scourge in developing nations such as ours. Motor vehicle crashes often result from burst tyres or tyre failure. Inflation pressure plays a critical role in burst tyres with under or overinflation being the culprit in many instances. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of normal tyre pressures and tyre care among motor vehicle drivers in Benin City. Three hundred and one drivers were interviewed consisting of 273 males and 28 females. There were 100 private and 201 commercial drivers. Of the 100 private drivers 67 use brand new tyres compared to 166 of the 201 commercial drivers (p=0.003). Two hundred and seventy six (91.7%) claimed to know the correct tyre pressures for their vehicles but the source of this information was the roadside vulcanizer in 240 (79.7%) of cases. Similarly 253 (84.1%) monitored their tyre pressures with the roadside vulcanizers. One hundred and ninety (63.1%) had experienced burst tyres with the commonest cause being old worn out tyres. We conclude that correct tyre pressures are not known to majority of our drivers. This is a risk factor for tyre failure and motor vehicle crashes. There is a need for increased tyre education for drivers and vulcanizers. The ban on used tyres should be enforced and indigenous tyre manufacturing companies encouraged by the Government.

Keywords: Tyres, failure, motor vehicle crash, Benin City