Tires not a priority for mom

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Tires not a priority for mom
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Monday, August 29, 2011
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+ C" G# r* Z9 v. w! l0 jFindlay, OH - A recent survey of U.S. mothers conducted by Cooper Tire & Rubber, in partnership with Cars.com and MotherProof.com, revealed that only 1 percent of moms consider maintaining their tires a priority when they think of “keeping their children safe.” Put your coat on. Brush your teeth. Be careful, your face will freeze that way. Finish your homework. From Wally Cleaver and the soccer coach’s daughter, every child is familiar with these ‘mom-isms.’ In comparison, “Don’t forget to check the tires before we visit grandma,” seems trivial. However, according to the Rubber Manufacturer’s Association, more than half of drivers do not know how to check tread depth and only 17 percent of vehicles on the road have four properly inflated tires – dangerous statistics considering the potential consequences of improperly maintained tires, including blow outs, longer stopping distances and less control when handling the vehicle. In order to bring the importance of tire safety and maintenance to the forefront, Cooper Tire, Cars.com and MotherProof.com set out to uncover where exactly tire safety ranks among other parenting concerns, such as education, health and nutrition. Mothers were asked to rank areas they pay the most attention to, regarding their children, and what proactive steps they take to benefit their families. Buying nutritious groceries ranked the highest, by more than 90 percent, with encouraging daily exercise, daily teeth brushing and non-required reading outside of school following behind. Although safety ranked highest as the category mothers pay the most attention to overall, beating out health, nutrition and education, less than one percent of responses reported automotive maintenance as a tactic to ensure their child’s safety, with zero responses mentioning tire safety. An alarming finding, especially as almost half of the mothers surveyed revealed spending more than four hours per week shuttling their kids around town. Mothers are also considerably unfamiliar with how to conduct proper tire maintenance techniques. Nine out of 10 mothers do not regularly maintain their vehicles, leaving the duties to a male household member or professional. A quarter of the mothers surveyed do not know how to find their vehicle’s correct tire pressure, properly check tire pressure and tread depth, or change a tire.