A lot of men may fancy themselves as the next Lewis Hamilton behind the wheel but they certainly wouldn’t cut it in the pits as new research reveals that most don’t know how to change a flat tyre. According to a survey by Continental Tyres, nearly half of the men questioned had never changed a flat tyre, with over a third admitting that they don’t even know where to start.

However, men are keeping this embarrassing secret under wraps; although 43 per cent of women believe it’s a man’s job to change a punctured tyre, little do they know that 48 per cent of their male companions would be happy to leave it to them if they broke down. One in three of these ‘knights in shining armour’ confessed to using any excuse to get out of the task, with an image-conscious 47 per cent saying that they didn’t want to ruin their clothes.

Nearly a third of men and women said they’d been left completely stranded thanks to a punctured tyre and had called friends or family out to help. Breakdown services were a common port of call too with 35 per cent of those who were members admitting to calling them out because of a puncture. And with one in three saying that they have waited over half an hour for help to arrive from their breakdown service in the past and a further 29 per cent clocking up a two hour wait, this adds up to a lot of wasted time.

One in six people said they have missed an important event or appointment thanks to an untimely puncture. Those listed included parties, flights, job interviews and hire car deadlines, with 47 per cent having missed work meetings and one particularly unfortunate respondent admitting that he was late for his own wedding.

Wasted time thanks to unavoidable tyre punctures can be a frustrating problem. Tracey Hyem at Continental Tyres says: “A punctured tyre can happen to anyone, anywhere and anytime, and can leave drivers completely stranded. As our research shows, many people don’t know how to change a flat tyre or simply don’t want the hassle, which means wasted time waiting for help, arriving late at your destination and, in the worst case scenario, the possibility of missing an important appointment completely.

“There are temporary puncture repair solutions available, such as our innovative ContiComfortKit which can seal a tyre puncture and re-inflate the tyre using just the power from your cigarette lighter, allowing you to get to the nearest tyre specialist safely. The built-in gauge and compressor also allow you to check and adjust your tyre pressures at any time, be this following a puncture or simply as routine maintenance in fact whenever and wherever you are, prolonging the life of your tyres and giving you better fuel efficiency.”

The ContiComfortKit can safely and easily seal up a puncture in minutes with just the power from a car cigarette lighter and allows drivers to continue driving for up to 125 miles at a maximum speed of 50 mph following a puncture. 

ContiComfortKit is not an alternative to a permanent repair and drivers must have the punctured tyre examined by a specialist to determine its suitability for permanent repair at the earliest opportunity.

For more information about the ContiComfortKit, visit www.conticomfortkit.co.uk.