A tyre expert with Infinity Tyres Limited, Mr. Rajendra Vishwakarma, has cautioned motorists to avoid over-inflating or under-inflating their tyres as its impedes smooth driving and compromises auto safety.
Viswakarma who stated this recently at the 2018 NAJA training workshop held in Lagos, affirmed that an over-inflated tyre loses grip of the road from the sides of the tyre, while an under-inflated tyre loses grip of the road from the middle.
He listed the effect of incorrect pressure to include premature failure of tyre, uneven wear, vehicle stand-still on roads, hard steering, more fuel consumption, less grip of the tyres on the road leading to increased braking distance, as well as financial losses.
The tyre expert also stressed the important roles played by air in the tyre to include carrying of the load of the entire vehicle, ensuring wear pattern of the tyre and elongating the life of the tyre.
Motorists were also advised to check inflation pressure of their tyres at regular intervals, saying “it is advisable to check inflation pressure on every tyre every trip or 2000 kilometers due to adverse road conditions”.
On precaution while inflating, he said “allow tyre to cool down for at least 15-20 minutes before checking and inflating, ensure that pressure gauge used for checking are in good condition, check any possible leakage from valve or bead area, and always close the valve with valve cap after inflating”.
Meanwhile, the federal government plans to inject N300bn into the nation’s auto industry as part of measures to accelerate the development of the automotive industry. Already, contributions into a support fund initiated to facilitate the vehicle production finance scheme have risen to N11bn.
The Director-General, National Automotive Design and Development Council, Jelani Aliyu, who gave the indication at the same event, said the funds would “support assembly operations at the Completely Knocked Down level and encourage local content development.”
He said presently, the auto industry activities were largely characterised by the Semi-Knocked Down operations with limited employment generated.
Aliyu spoke on “Achieving 2013-2020 Nigerian Automotive Industry Development Plan under the current regime: How feasible?” at a capacity building workshop for motoring journalists.
He said the Federal Government was worried by the slow pace of development in the auto industry subsector of the economy even though government had given 35 automobile firms “bona-fide manufacturing status and many of them have started assembly operation.”
This is coming about five years after the government commenced the implementation of the Nigerian Automotive Industry Development Plan implementation which was meant to encourage local production and purchase of new vehicles.
Aliyu, who was represented by the Director, Special Duties at the NADDC, David Oyetunji, said the auto support fund was an indication of the government’s resolve to provide the necessary encouragement for the development of the auto sector.
He said, “The automotive industry is the cornerstone for establishing a self-sustaining economy and upgrading the standard of living both in the developing and developed economy.”
