Recent research commissioned by tyre specialists Kwik Fit has shown that more than half of motorists could not change their own wheel if they got a puncture.
Of those surveyed, 36 per cent of respondents said they had both the spare wheel and the tools required to change a flat tyre but not the knowledge. A further 10 per cent carry the spare but not the tools, while six per cent had neither the equipment nor the knowledge to make a swap. Most worryingly, three per cent, or roughly 54,000 motorists, had no kind of provision in place.
While many car manufacturers now supply puncture repair kits with new cars the vast majority of the estimated half a million punctures suffered each year are dealt with by replacing the affected tyre with a spare, be it a full size item or a space saver.
Changing a flat tyre is a skill that all motorists should possess and thankfully our friends in Volkswagen Ireland have put together a handy step-by-step video that shows the safe way to change the tyre. The video shows a full size spare being used but the technique is the same for a space saver. The removal of security wheel bolts, often fitted to cars equipped with alloy wheels, is also covered.