Recently, a trucker was killed by a tyre explosion as he stopped to check his vehicle at the side of the A14. The impact of an exploding tyre although “very rare” is said to the same as a bomb going off.

The driver of the Daf truck, died as a result of serious personal injuries created by the massive blast from one of the tyres.

The tragedy follows the death of Martyn Bacon, 27, who was killed last year also by an exploding tyre.Mr Bacon took full force of the blast when the tyre he was fitting at his father’s business exploded in July 2008.

A spokesperson from the AA said: “The main reason for a tyre exploding is either massive over-inflation, and I mean when it is extremely over inflated, not just a bit. Or, under-inflation, because then the tyres can get too hot.”

She furthered: ““The important thing is to always check the pressure of the tyres. Do it once a fortnight at home, before you've gone anywhere.”

In the aftermath of these tragic accidents, the AA has warned all motorists to check the pressure of their wheels and also to be cautious of cheap tyres.

An explosive situation

Car magazine Autocar, also had something to say about cheap tyres as it recently ran an article which stated that fitting budget far eastern tyres could seriously affect the way a car copes with soaking roads. This news is especially important in the UK at this time of year as we expect to be hit by April showers.

However, it is thought that tyre shopping is tyre-some and usually a distress purchase for many car owners, meaning when the time comes for new wheels, many drivers shop according to price. This, the magazine said is a huge mistake.

Imported tyres from Taiwan and China presently account for one fifth of all tyres sold in Great Britain, and although they pass the minimum ECE R30 high-speed examination, there are no statutory tests for handling, breaking or aquaplaning performance.

This got the car magazine worried, so they carried out their own scientific test on five budget brand tyres, testing them for dry handling, high-speeds and wet handling.

Braking from 50mph, the Continental stopped the shortest distance, followed by the Nankang, GT Radial, Wanli and Triangle.

However, despite a good performance, when it came to the wet lap time, the Continentals fell worryingly short by 3.4 seconds.

Autocar senior tester Jamie Corstorphine said, “We expected the bargain tyres in this test to fall short of the Continental, but we were not prepared for just how poorly some performed.”

Corstorphine stated that purchasing a set of cheap tyres was a false economy and could heavily affect a driver’s car insurance policy and car claim.

“Having seen how the five cut-price tyres in this test perform, we’re in no doubt that quality pays dividends,” he said.