Here I go being stereotypical, but I’m a girl and I don’t know much about cars.

I’ve had a licence since I was 17. I passed 1st time. I have no points and never have. No tickets. Never been pulled over.

It’s safe to say I’m a good driver, but that doesn’t mean I know much about cars. In fact, last year one of my tyres was on verge of being illegal with how much it had worn down! Pretty bad I know.

I mostly rely on my husband to take care of the car, however we now have a car each and he’s not always around to sort out the MOT and servicing. Which is exactly what I had to do last week.

I’ve got an oldish car, the hubby has a better one (he drives around for work). Having an old car you can only expect it to need a little TLC when being serviced. Off I go to the MOT test centre and drop the car off. Luckily it’s really close to our local soft play so I can wait there with Lamb while the car is being looked at.

Unfortunately the car failed, but we were expecting it to. One of the advisories was a new tyre. Again.

This has opened my eyes. I need to be more aware of what I am driving around in, and more importantly, what Lamb is driving around in. Twice I’ve had a tyre close to being illegal and this just isn’t good enough.

Did you know that your insurance is void if you are driving with one or more tyres with a tread depth of less than 1.6mm (UK legal limit)? So it’s vital that you check your tyres regularly.

What Should I Check?

• The Overall condition of the tyres.
• Tread Depth – insert a 20p piece into the main grooves on the tyre. If you can see the outer rim then your tyre may be illegal.
• Tyre pressure – remember to always check when your tyres are cold. The wrong pressure can increase tyre wear and ultimately cause you to spend more.
• Signs of irregular wear – if your tyre tread is worn unevenly this is a sign of poor wheel alignment. If you suspect poor wheel alignment then ask your garage to check the tracking.
• Make sure your spare tyre is safe too!

The current British legal limit for car tread depth is 1.6mm (across 75% of the tyre). However, it is recommended you replace your tyres when the tread reaches 3mm. For each illegal tyre you face a fine of up to £2,500 and the chance of three penalty points on your driving license. This is certainly something I want to avoid.

Poor tyres result in poor driving. Aquaplaning to bad breaking. Trust me, Aquaplaning isn’t fun. It happened to me once when I was younger (I wasn’t driving) and it could of been fatal (we luckily aquaplaned away from the cliff edge we were driving along).

As I mentioned earlier I’ve had 2 occasions recently where my tyres were close to the legal limit. From now on I will be using a 20p to check the tread. If checking the tread is that easy, then more of us should be doing it (especially parents) to ensure we are driving a safe car. No matter what the age of your car.

We love to go on family holidays in the UK, or often travel long distances to visit family. Even more reason to make sure our tyres are safe.

If you are concerned about the condition of your tyres then take them to a professional. Finding the right tyres is not easy and takes up a lot of time! Point S car tyre dealers in UK offer the convenience of selecting and booking tyres online without any prior payment. Point S is located nationwide and can offer you a simple tyre check to brand new tyres and fitting

Ax

*PR Collaboration

The lovely Lauren from Belle Du Brighton tagged me to answer 11 questions about myself etc. I love these sort of posts! It’s a great way to introduce a little more of yourself and your life to those who read your blog.

Here are my ‘eleven things’ answers.

1. What was your favourite childhood book?

Ok, this is a tough one, because my mum read with us from a really early age and I loved reading as a child. I wrote a post on my favourite childhood books as there are so many. I asked my mum and she said The Hungry Caterpillar and The Jolly Postman were my faves. I also loves The Tiger Who Came To Tea.

2. Do you have a favourite meal, and if so what and why?

I’m so guilty of saying “this is my favourite meal, song, film, drink”. Whatever, it’s always my favourite! But I have a memory of being at pre-school and making my favourite meal out of string and tissue paper on a paper plate. That meal was spaghetti bolognese. Loved it then, and I love it now.

3. What did you want to be when you grew up?

I have no memory of wanting to be anything in particular. In fact I don’t have many memories of my childhood. So here comes mummy to answer this for me. She said “you wanted to be a dancer, teacher and at one point a police officer! Oh and a photographer and journalist later on”. I have one memory of going through a phase of designing shoes. I was really young, so had no idea what a “designer” was, but something intrigued me about creating unusual shoes.

Turns out I covered 3 of those dream roles. I work as a fashion designer, studied photography at A Level and now write a blog. That covers designer/photographer/journalist right?!

4. What’s your favourite joke?

How do you know an elephant’s been in your fridge? Footprints in the butter!

This is an awful joke, but one I always remember reading as a child and thinking was hilarious!

5. Where is your happy place?

Cuddling Lamb. Anytime, anywhere. It’s taken a long time to get to this happy place, but cuddling him brings a tear to my eye.

6. The last song you heard?

‘Killing in the Name Of’ by Rage Against The Machine just played on Spotify at work. Bloody love this song.

7. Who was your last text from?

My sister in law Stevie with a voice message from my nephew!

8.What colour is your sofa?

Ha. Well, it’s supposed to be grey. But is now dark grey in areas due to lots of spills by Lamb! And it’s less than a year old… damn.

9. What is on your bedside table.

A lamp that doesn’t work. My old iPhone (I upgraded last month). A few books that I’m not reading. Baby Wipes.

10. Do you have any blogging goals?

To turn my blog name into a successful brand (which I’m currently working on).

11.Where did you last go on holiday?

Bluestone Wales!

I tag Tanita, Alice, Emily, Shaz and Gemma if you want to take part.

Here are my questions.

1. Where is your favourite country/place you have visited?

2. Name your top 5 celebrity crushes.

3. How do you feel about piercing babies ears? There’s a whole debate right now over it being called ‘abuse’.

4. What is your dream career?

5. If you could re live any moment in your life, what would it be?

6. Cats or dogs?

7. Top 3 things to help you survive a day?

8. PC or Mac?

9. Have you ever won anything?

10. Heels or flats?

11. Camping or Spa holiday?

Ax