BRUSSELS, Belgium (April 15, 2010)—Safety checks of 52,400 cars in 15 European Union countries in 2009 showed that 81 percent of motorists were driving on underinflated tires.
The study, a joint initiative of Bridgestone Corp., the Federation Internationale de lAutomobile and national motoring clubs found that driving on underinflated tires costs the equivalent of 4.2 billion gallons of wasted fuel,and added 9.3 million metric tons of CO2 emissions into the atmopshere.
Safety checks were conducted by Bridgestone at shopping centers and parking lots throughout Europe in 2009, the report said. The analysis showed 26.5 percent of EU motorists surveyed are driving on seriously underinflated tires, and that nearly 17 percent of the tires were worn below EU legal minimum standards.