A car that is driven every day gets its tires checked by accident. A car that sits gets forgotten. Tires lose air slowly when the car is parked, and the rubber can crack or flatten in one spot if the car stays in the same position for weeks. Nobody has to be a mechanic to keep them safe. You need a gauge, a schedule, and one person whose job it is.
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Find the right pressure
The correct pressure is not the number printed on the tire sidewall. That number is the maximum the tire can hold. Look for the sticker on the driver's door frame, or check the owner's manual. Use that number, measured when the tires are cold, meaning the car has not been driven for a few hours.
Buy a gauge and keep it in the car
A simple pencil-style or digital gauge works well. Keep it in the glove box or the garage, not in a drawer you have to search for. Check the gauge against a tire shop's machine once, so you know it reads close to what they read.
Check the tread and the sidewalls
Use a tread depth gauge, or push a coin into the tread with the rim of the coin facing down. If you can see the top of the rim, the tread is getting low and the tire needs a closer look. Look at the sidewalls for cracks, bulges, or cuts. Run your hand around the tire to feel for lumps. Do this in good light, in the garage with the door open or outside in the morning.
Decide who looks and when
Pick one person and one day each month. Write the day on the calendar in the kitchen. The person checks pressure on all four tires, looks at tread and sidewalls, and writes the pressure and any problem in a notebook kept in the glove box. If the car is not used often, check before any trip, not only once a month.
Ask a shop for a check at the next visit
If the car goes in for any other reason, ask the shop to check the tires, the pressure, and the valve caps while it is there. Tell them the car sits most of the time. Ask them to note the tread depth on the invoice so you can compare it at the next visit. If anything looks worn, ask them to show you the tire on the lift.
If you are sorting through several things that nobody has picked up since the funeral, the first hundred days list is a good place to see the car next to the rest of the house, so the tires do not get lost among the other jobs.
What to do tonight
Find the door sticker, write the pressure on a card, and tape the card to the inside of the glove box. Tomorrow, check all four tires with the gauge. Write down the numbers. Then ask him who should be the one to check them each month, and let him answer.