It was easy to make fun of a security-conscious uncle or grandfather who needed to wear both a belt and suspenders to feel safe.

But is a recent carmakers’ trend that sets drivers out on the road without the automotive equivalent of either one really wise?

A number of automobile brands are selling new cars without spare tires – both to save money and fuel-robbing weight, and because they say run-flat tires and onboard tire air-pressure sensors are making getting stuck beside the road due to a flat a thing of the past.

Even when people have a flat, they say, drivers are much more likely to call a road service for help than to try to change it themselves.

And some of the 13 percent of new cars sold without spares come with tire inflator kits that will get a car with a simple puncture to a garage – though the kits don’t work when a tire is more severely damaged.

Younger drivers seem more likely to feel comfortable without spares than older ones, but that may be because they have never been sitting beside a lonely highway at 2 a.m. on a rainy night with no help in sight.

Still, carmakers say, if new cars without spare tires don’t sell, the spare will return. But if consumers don’t care, spare tires will soon be as common on cars as buggy whips – and for the same reason.

 

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