Beware of Defective Tires!
Many people recall the headlines featuring the Goodyear Tire litigation in the 1990s surrounding defective tires placed on RV’s, which led to the tragic loss of lives. What you may not be aware of is that litigation continues to the present day. Many people have fallen victim to these small rubber time bombs.
Serious Accidents Can Result from Defective Tires
Defective tires lead to the abrupt loss of air. This can cause a vehicle to fishtail, veer sharply in one direction leading to collisions with other cars or barriers, leave the roadway and often lead to rollovers. This results in frightening and sudden accidents with injuries or loss of life.
One would think that tire manufacturers saw the Goodyear issues and the negative publicity it generated, and make every effort to enhance their testing, improve manufacturing, and use extensive efforts to inform the public and their customers of any necessary recalls. Unfortunately, manufactures continue to place profits over safety. They take a lax approach when it comes to design, manufacturing, and production. At the same time, we continue to see innocent people, going about their day on what they feel are safe tires, only to find they are involved in an accident due to a tire defect.
Car owners are responsible for keeping their tires properly inflated, to check for cracking and signs of aging, uneven tread wear, apparent tire injury from road debris, and sufficient tread depth. However, a manufacturing defect is beyond the car owner’s control.
Types of Tire Defects
Tire defects come in many forms and include sidewall weakness, tire tread separation, adhesion failure between the belt and the tread, and bead failure, to name a few. Some defects are a result of improper manufacturing. Other flaws are due to poor design. Going back to the initial Goodyear issues, it was found that as the tires overheated during use, the tread separated. This defect should have been discovered during the development and testing of this tire.
Sometimes defects are not open and visible. Experts can X-ray the interior of the tire to look for defects inside to locate errors such as high stress on the belt edges or interior separation of the tire, leading to weakening of the tire and ultimately tire failure. Therefore, if you feel a potential cause of your accident is due to a defective tire, make sure to save the tire to preserve the evidence!
Another part of the supply chain to look to is the retailer or service center. They may have sold a tire that was on the recall list. Look to see if they sold or installed a tire that was improper for your vehicle. Maybe the tire had been sitting in inventory too long and developed age-related defects, tires are mismatched when installed, used tires sold as new, or were installed onto the wrong rims. All valid inquires.
Whether they come from a major brand name tire store, general tire retail stores, manufacturers, box stores, or automakers who placed tire on at the factory, ask yourself: did they place an unreasonably dangerous tire or improperly serviced tire on the roadway?
Watch YouTube Video: The Difference Between Damaged and Defective Tires. The following video discusses how to spot the difference between a defective tire and a damaged one during installation.
Check for Tire Recalls
To see if your tires are subject to a current recall, look to the following sites:
Sacramento Tire Defect Accident Lawyer
I’m Ed Smith, a tire defect accident lawyer in Sacramento. If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident and you believe it was it due to a defective tire, call me at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400 for free, friendly advice.
We are 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 by Robert Laursoo on Unsplash
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