What You Need To Know About Tire Safety

By Author: Greg Baumgartners
Total Articles: 1
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One of the important car safety considerations is proper care of the tires. Statistics support the premise that tire safety requires the serious attention of drivers. Blowouts routinely lead to serious and often fatal car accidents and rollovers.

The National Traffic Safety Administration believes tire failures and blowouts contribute to at least 400 deaths and over 10,000 non-fatal injuries each year in the U.S. Tire failure accidents can run the gamut and vary with the location of the tire that failed and also the type of vehicle.

Checking your tires frequently is an important step in tire safety.

The first and simplest step in tire care begins with a regular and quick visual examination of tires to check to make sure you have adequate tread. Looking at your tires by walking around the vehicle and looking at the tires for obvious cuts or bald or excessively worn spots. Any defects that are visible to you on your tires should be addressed immediately.

Try the penny test which is advocated by many reliable authorities; check your tires for proper tread ...
... by taking a penny and pinching Lincoln's body between your thumb and forefinger. Put Lincoln's head in a groove of the tread. If any part of the head is obscured by the tread, your tread depth is probably ok. If you can see above the head on the penny, visit the dealership of your choosing to see about replacing your tires.

One final word on the topic of tire tread - although tire sales persons may advance the notion that retreaded tires are safe as well as economical - avoid this type of purchase. Don't be penny wise and dollar foolish - remember like the tire company commercials- you do have a lot riding on your tires. Never- buy used tires even if they look like new.

Adequate tire pressure is the second most important consideration for drivers in relation to tire safety. Unfortunately, under inflation is a leading cause of tire failure and improper air pressure can cause a tire to blow out or fail.

Tire pressure is measured in pounds per square inch (psi). Tires lose air through the process of permeation. Changes in outdoor temperature can affect the rate at which a tire loses air. Typically, a tire may one pound to two pounds of pressure per month, and even more in warm weather. Look at the walls of your tires to make sure that you are using you tires at the manufacturers recommended tire pressure.

To help avoid under inflation of tires have the air pressure checked professionally at least once a month or buy and carry in you vehicle a tire pressure gauge and set an inspection routine.

If you are unsure of the age of your tires check the age or have a professional check the age- rubber deteriorates with age and older tires that have plenty of tread can fail due to age. Most manufacturers now recommend that you take out of service any tire that is 6 years old. Spare tires are especially vulnerable because they may look new but fail due to age deterioration.

Check the age of your tire by looking on the side of the tire for the DOT number and look at the last 4 numbers. The first 2 numbers are the week made and the last 2 numbers are the year. By example, if the last 4 digits are 5007 the tire is made the 50th week of 2007.

In addition to under inflation, and age related failure some tire blowouts are caused by defects in the tire itself due to manufacturing defects. While those instances are not as frequent as other causes of blowouts they do happen and continue to cause injury and wrongful death.

If you have any doubts about your tires, consult a tire dealer that employ-trained experts whose job is to detect defects in your tires.

Greg Baumgartner is a Houston personal injury lawyer who helps victims of tire blowout accidents. For more details please visit our website texastriallawyers.com