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Safety Review Policy
Some tire advice can affect your safety. This policy sets out how we review safety-critical content, the criteria we apply, the tasks we will not encourage, and how we handle corrections and urgent warnings.
Scope and limitations
This policy covers content that could affect your physical safety: anything about jacking or lifting a vehicle, changing a wheel at the roadside, handling damaged tires, or judging when a tire is unsafe. That content is written and reviewed with a bias toward caution. It remains general information, however, and cannot account for your specific vehicle, tire or location. Your manufacturer’s instructions and a qualified professional’s judgement take precedence over anything we publish.
Safety-first review criteria
We apply the same questions to every safety-critical page.
- Does it defer to the manufacturer? Guidance must point readers to the vehicle owner’s manual and door-jamb placard for jacking points, torque figures, pressures and spare limits.
- Does it respect traffic risk? No page should encourage working in a live lane or on the traffic side of a vehicle. Where the location is unsafe, we advise getting clear of traffic and calling for help.
- Does it treat the jack correctly? A jack lifts; it does not support. We require axle stands for any work beneath a vehicle, on firm, level ground.
- Does it treat damage conservatively? Sidewall damage, bulges, blisters and exposed cords are treated as unrepairable and unsafe to drive on, and we say so plainly.
- Does it respect spare limits? Temporary and compact spares are described with their speed and distance limits, as temporary solutions only.
- Does it avoid absolutes we cannot support? We do not promise that a procedure is safe in every circumstance, and we do not present estimates as certified results.
Reviewer eligibility
We describe contributions accurately. Where a page is reviewed by someone with relevant technical experience, we state that plainly. Where content has been written and checked editorially but not reviewed by a named technical specialist, we say so rather than implying an endorsement that does not exist. We do not invent qualifications, certifications, affiliations or review status, and we will not display a reviewer’s name until that review has genuinely taken place and the person has agreed to be credited. See our authors page for how we describe roles.
Unsafe conditions and boundaries
Some tasks should not be attempted by most drivers in most circumstances. We treat the following as boundaries, and our content reflects them: working at the roadside on a busy road, at night, or in poor visibility; lifting a vehicle on soft, sloped or unstable ground; working beneath a vehicle supported only by a jack; driving on a tire with sidewall damage or a bulge; and exceeding the speed or distance limit of a temporary spare. Where these apply, our guidance is to stop, get safe, and seek professional help.
Updates and escalation
When we learn that guidance is out of date or wrong, we correct it. Safety-critical corrections are treated as a priority; you can report one through our corrections policy. If a correction concerns an immediate risk to readers, we aim to revise the affected page promptly rather than wait for a scheduled review. Our editorial policy explains the standards behind everything we publish, and our sources and references page explains the sources we rely on.
This page is general information maintained by the TireHelpGuide editorial team. It is not a substitute for your vehicle or tire manufacturer’s guidance or a qualified professional’s judgement.