Bridgestone highlights need to protect motorists from the expense caused by damaged tyres
With rocketing inflation driving up the cost of living, unexpected expenses like replacing a damaged tyre can be a bridge too far.
Image supplied by Bridgestone South Africa
This Transport Month, Bridgestone is highlighting the benefits of its long-established Tyre Damage Guarantee which remains the easiest and best way to mitigate the risk of tyre damage on South Africa’s increasingly potholed road system.
Research by Frost & Sullivan in 2021 showed that just over half (54%) of South Africa’s unpaved roads are in a poor to very poor condition, as is 30% of the paved road network.[1]
“Tyres plays a key—but often unrecognised—role in keeping motorists safe on the road, which is why it makes sense to buy top-quality tyres. But potholes and other road hazards such as nails, broken glass, spikes, and objects that have fallen off vehicles make it extremely likely that tyres could be damaged and need to be replaced prematurely,”
says Lungisa Xhelithole, Brand Manager - Bridgestone Southern Africa.
“The Bridgestone Tyre Damage Guarantee has been helping motorists cope with such unexpected expenses for the past 30 years and will continue to do so.”
Bridgestone designed its Tyre Damage Guarantee to be as simple and effective as possible. When purchasing qualifying Bridgestone or Firestone tyres, private or passenger fleet customers simply must register the tyres. If they are so unfortunate as to suffer damage because of road hazards, they can claim for a new tyre and only pay for the tread they have used.
In the past five years, Bridgestone processed claims valued just under R30 million from customers that have registered with the Tyre Damage Guarantee scheme.
“We’re a mobility company, not just a tyre manufacturer, and customer mobility is important to us,”
she comments.
“As this is Transport Month, and the rainy season is about to start for most of the country, this is a great time to remind the motoring public that buying a quality tyre makes good sense. Top-quality tyres are not only safer and last longer, in the case of Bridgestone or Firestone tyres, they offer a way of negotiating South Africa’s ‘pothole pandemic’ without breaking the bank.”
[1] New data shows how broken South Africa’s raods are”, BusinessTech (13 June 2021).
