Dangerously Old Tires Can Lead to Personal Injuries and Deaths
Many people who faithfully buckle up their seatbelt as soon as they sit down in a car or who immediately take their vehicle in for repairs when a safety recall is issued may never once think about the age of their vehicles’ tires. Dangerously old tires — not necessarily overworn, just old — should be every bit as much of a safety concern as seatbelts and airbags, but many of us don’t think to ever check our tires ages. More significantly, many of the auto service centers we rely upon to maintain our vehicles don’t think to look at them either.
Loss of stopping ability, loss of control in a turn or on slippery roads, and simple blowouts from overwear all present the danger of motor vehicle accidents that can result in serious personal injuries or even deaths. In these instances, an experienced personal injury attorney can help identify those who may be legally responsible for the defective products and the resulting injuries.
Service Life Versus Tire Wear
Most folks are aware that tires with heavily worn treads can become dangerous due to a lack of stopping capability and control in turns. A common shortcut to check on the amount of tire remaining is to stick the top of a penny into the gap between each tread — if we can see the top of Abe’s head on the penny, then the tread is likely less than the minimum tread that most states require before tires must be replaced.
Many people, however, aren’t aware that tire age can be just as significant as tire wear. Most tire manufacturers recommend that we start thinking about replacing tires on typical passenger vehicles by the time they are six-years-old and that they definitely should be replaced by the time they are ten-years-old. This is due to the fact that the rubber portions of tires will degrade over time as the materials slowly oxidize, causing both internal and external damage to the tire. This can lead to an increased chance of the tread belts separating, resulting in sudden blowouts.
How Old Are My Tires?
A quick visual inspection can often tell us if tires have become overworn, but how can we determine if their age should be a concern? Tires that are designed for high mileage wear capability may become “aged” before they become “worn” — likewise, tires that are mounted on vehicles that are driven relatively short distances every year may age faster than they wear out.
Fortunately, it’s quick and easy to determine our tires’ ages, and it’s not necessary to dig up paperwork from years in the past when the tires were last replaced. Tires are manufactured with important information stamped right onto the tire sidewall. One series of letters and numbers relates to the size dimensions of the tire. Another series begins with “DOT” and ends in a four-digit number, like “3017” — those four digits tell us the week and year that the tire was manufactured. The number “3017,” for example, would be on a tire manufactured in the 30th week of the year 2017.
How Do Auto and Tire Service Centers Factor into This?
Many auto service centers and dealership service departments that handle routine vehicle maintenance items like oil and filter changes will routinely check other items that can become worn and in need of replacement. They will often let us know if our tire tread is becoming over-worn or if our brake pads are in need of replacement. It would be very helpful if they also checked our tires’ age at the same time they’re checking its tread depth.
These service centers can also help by not offering old tires for sale. And this doesn’t just mean used tires that have been taken off another vehicle — it can also mean never-used, “new” tires that have just been sitting on a shelf for too many years, slowly oxidizing and degrading.
Service centers that tell us our “tires are in fine shape” may be negligent if they have failed to also check the tires’ age and warn us if they are too old. Likewise, any service center, dealership, or tire specialist that sells a new or used tire that is overly aged at the time of sale may be responsible for products liability if that age results in a tire failure that causes injury or death.
How Can We Protect Ourselves from Dangerously Old Tires?
Tires are not inexpensive, so we don’t want to replace them frequently if we don’t have to. Even some used tires can safely be used as replacements if they are in otherwise good condition in terms of tread depth and age. Be sure to check the tire age of any tire that you purchase, including “new” tires that have never been used but which may have been stuck in the back of the dealership’s garage for several years awaiting sale.
We can check tires ourselves — if we’re used to doing the “penny check” ourselves for the tread depth on tires, then a quick glance at the DOT age code at the same time will let us know if tire age is something to be concerned about.
And if we take a vehicle in for routine maintenance and the mechanic tells us our tire tread is in good shape, be sure to also ask, “Just how old are those tires, anyway?”
How Can a Products Liability Lawyer Help?
When a traffic accident results from a defective product like an automobile tire, liability for any injuries that are caused may rest with a variety of companies and individuals — from the manufacturer that designed and produced the tire, to the automaker or re-seller that put the tire on the vehicle, to an auto service center that sold an aged tire or failed to advise us that it was time for old tires to be replaced.
Experienced products liability lawyers will have the skills and resources necessary to review the physical evidence and determine where liability may lay in these circumstances in order to help people who have sustained personal injuries receive just compensation.
The video below provides more information on reading the tire DOT codes and other things to consider about aging tires:
Products Liability Lawyer in Sacramento County
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Products Liability Lawyer. Tires are among the most important “safety products” on our cars, even if we don’t always think of them that way. If you or a family member has been seriously injured by a defective tire or other vehicle parts, please call us today at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400 for free, friendly advice.
We are proud to be members of the National Association of Distinguished Counsel and the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.
See our client reviews on Google, Yelp, and Avvo and our past verdicts and settlements.
Photo Attribution: Image by nightowl from Pixabay
gm [cs 1163] bw