Many different types of businesses rely on trucks to get their supplies to them and back out the door to customers. In the rush to get products to customers, many companies fail to take time to properly maintain their trucks. It’s because of situations like this that accidents occur.
Truckers can play a role in causing their own tire problems by failing to perform regular maintenance on them. Busy and potentially overworked, they often fail to keep their tires properly inflated, rotated and checked for improper wear patterns.
If tires are not probably inflated to a manufacturer’s specifications, also known as balancing, then it’s likely that the car will begin to vibrate and wear to the tires will become much less uniform in appearance. Uneven wear patterns put motorists of all types at a significantly higher risk of a blowout-related crash.
A motorist that doesn’t keep their car in good repair may also experience increased risk for blowouts, rollovers and other types of accidents. Many truckers unfortunately stop short in aligning their trucks. They often only align the front-end instead of ensuring that all four points of contact are working in unison with one another. This can lead to wheels not uniformly making contact with the pavement, resulting in uneven wear patterns as well.
Another human-related threat that gives way to tire blowouts are road hazards. Even the smallest nails, plastic, glass or other objects can puncture tires, especially when trucks are moving at high rates of speed. This is one of the reasons truckers should steer clear of all types of debris. Failing to do so puts them at risk for slowly developing flats or suddenly experiencing blowouts.
Aside from these more common human-related reasons tires blow out, there are many documented cases of defectively manufactured tires as well. In 2015, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a report highlighting a problem with Michelin tires blowing out, especially when truckers exceeded certain speeds.
This is why it’s important that you periodically review tire recalls. This is easily done by regularly accessing the Department of Transportation’s website. It lists reported tire complaints and investigations completed regarding them as well.
If you’ve been seriously injured in a tire blowout crash, then you may benefit from discussing your case with a Houston truck accident attorney.
Source: Bolt Insurance Agency, “Causes of truck accident tire problems,” accessed Oct. 27, 2017
