Cheap car insurance in Virginia, North Carolina, or just about anywhere else starts with safe driving. But even if you haven’t had a speeding ticket in years, and you always merge carefully, how you actually drive your automobile is only part of the safety equation. Automobile maintenance is another big part, and tire safety…
There are lots of little known – and helpful – facts about tires. For example, did you know that the typical tread depth of a new tire is 10/32 of an inch? And that the wear bars (horizontal bars connecting the treads that appear when the tire becomes worn) show at 2/32 of an inch? That means 80% of your tread is gone, which causes a couple of issues. First, your car is much more susceptible to hydroplaning on wet roads. Second, on dry roads there is less air space between treads, which means greater heat build up on the tires. Not a good thing. Also, remember, at 2/32 of an inch, your car tires will not pass state safety inspections.
If your tires are wearing unevenly due to poor alignment or some other issue, this presents another safety concern. Uneven wear means that the tire is not contacting the road across the entire surface of the tire, and that means less grip. Finally, maintaining recommended air pressure provides benefits, too. We even wrote a blog about it.
So in review, driving safely and maintaining a safe vehicle are both great ways to move toward the cheapest car insurance. Oh, and if you’re in North Carolina or Virginia, don’t forget to contact us at the Insurance Doctor for all your auto insurance and motorcycle insurance needs.