Incorrect tire pressure will not only affect your fuel consumption, but it can be one of the reasons as to why you may end up in a car crash. When the tire pressure is reduced, for example, due to a puncture, fuel consumption inevitably increases, since the rolling resistance of the tire is several times higher than it would be at the nominal pressure. Low tire pressure leads to faster wear of the tires as well as to the fact that it can lead to your car becoming uncontrollable when driving.
A German magazine called Autobild conducted a survey among German drivers on whether they check their tire pressure regularly. The study showed that about half of the drivers surveyed had overly low tire pressure, and two-thirds of the respondents did not even know when was the last time they had checked their tire pressure. Interestingly, some modern vehicles like Audi have tire-pressure sensors, which means that you can always sell used car and present oneself with some new and technologically-advanced vehicle.
Conseqences of having low tire pressure in your vehicle
- If the tire pressure is too low or you have a flat tire, the rear part of the car will react slowly when changing lanes and in the worst case (if the tire is very flat), the car can suddenly be thrown off the road;
- Vehicles equipped with ESP (Electronic Stability Program) will experience sudden intervention of the system’s operation and one or more wheels will start to brake.