• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, May 8, 2018

If you think knowing how to use a penny and tire-pressure gauge sounds a little old school for the typical American teen, you’re right. Michelin reports that 42% of teens are driving around on tires with unsafe treads.

But since kids do care about sneaker treads, it’s starting #StreetTreadContest with Vans, encouraging teens to learn the basics of tire maintenance. They can post a picture on social media, and Michelin will select 100 winners to score a pair of special-edition Vans Sk8-Hi and Old Skool shoes. (The kicks are made of canvas featuring the familiar Michelin Man.)

Michelin, based in Greenville, S.C., also says 40% of teens have tires that aren’t inflated correctly. And citing an analysis by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it says that of the 2.2 million U.S. accidents each year, almost 300,000 are linked to teen drivers and tire issues.

Michelin launched its Beyond the Driving Test program back in 2014, with the goal of making sure tire safety information is included in training materials for new drivers, which it accomplished last year. It says it hopes this new phase will reach 1 million teens.

The company says it chose Vans, a division of VF Corp., as its partner since kids are passionate about sneakers, spending about 8% of their total income on shoes, compared with 9% on cars.

To win, teens have to share a photo showing that they know how to check a tire's tread depth using a penny, and/or that they can use a gauge to check the pressure on their tires.

Michelin’s research, based on 16-to-19-year-old drivers in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles and Seattle, also finds that 75% of teens let others take responsibility for car maintenance, 43% have never checked their tread depth, and 32% haven’t measured tire pressure.