Did the Tires cause your Car Accident?

The basic use of a motor vehicle is to transport oneself from one point to the next. One of the key elements necessary for a car to move in its tires. As a result, this is one aspect of a vehicle requiring maintenance, repair, or replacement. However, when the tires are created with a defect, this could endanger the lives of the vehicle operator and his or her occupants. This article will discuss how tire defects can cause serious accidents.

Several tire defects could result in blowouts or damages to the vehicle. However, once the tires cause the accident, this could result in potential injury to the vehicle occupants and causing harm to others on the road. Some common defects associated with tires include the following:

• Old or weak rubber – some people may not be aware, but tires have an expiration date [Tire Safety: Expiration Dates – Ag Safety and Health (extension.org)] just like food products. However, it is not uncommon for the expiration date to pass while they sit on the shelves before being sold. So even though they are bought as new, they are old. The rubber maybe a week or dried out and cracked, which could lead to blowouts when traveling at high speeds or if a certain amount of pressure is applied when braking.
• Underfilled or overfilled tires – tires can be bought that have been over or underfilled with air. Such tires can cause an accident once used on the road. As a result, it is essential to receive documentation that records when the materials were purchased and used for any potential claim that may be needed later. This is an excellent way to have a paper trail to find the responsible party in a personal injury claim.
• Tread separation, defective materials and defective design of tires – at any point when the tread becomes separated from the rest of the tire, this is a recipe for a deadly accident. Often this occurs as a result of high speeds on the road and can result in fatalities. There are instances whereby the tire is designed poorly, or defective or lower grade materials are used to make the tire.

Often this happens to save time and money. However, it is at the expense of the safety of road and vehicle users. Thus, it is vital to record the source the tire was purchased from, either the distributor or the manufacturer. And it is these parties that are held responsible for any incidents that occur as a result of accidents linked to the tires

It must be noted though that, not all tire issues result from something being wrong with the tire. For example, tire blowouts in car accidents could be due to potholes and crumbling road conditions that make cuts in the tire or small punctures that allow air to escape. Also, an overload of the vehicle can lead to a blowout.

For legal advice and representation in a car accident, contact an Alaska car accident attorney today.