Truck Accident Causes: Tire Defects

The integrity of your tires is directly related to your safety as even insignificant malfunctions or defects can result in tragic injuries, serious property damage, and death. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), motorists can avoid accidents by checking tire pressure, regularly inspecting their tires for cuts and punctures, and avoiding hazards on the road that might damage tires. However, these precautions cannot protect from innate defects.

Common Defects of Tires

Serious defects can affect tires in a number of ways with many parts that may threaten your safety:

The inner liner maintains air pressure and protects the inside of the tire. Safe liners are manufactured using halobutyl rubber, which is a special rubber than is less likely to become damaged or degenerated. Cheaper rubbers are more susceptible to air penetration and other problems. Tire liners that are not made with 100% halobutyl rubber lose 4-5% of their air pressure every month, whereas safe tires only lose 2.5%.
Body plies can also be defective. Body plies are sheets of fabric integrated between each layer of rubber in the tire to reinforce the tire's strength. Heavy vehicles require tires with more body plies.
Like the inner liner, the tire's sidewalls protect the inside of the tire. Simply put, sidewalls are strong pieces of rubber placed on the outside of the tire to protect it from environmental dangers.
Steel belts are used to protect the tire from being punctured by sharp objects. If the belts are not bonded properly, they may damage the tire treads.
Rubber pieces of the tire are held together by polymer chains called belt skim stock. This is important because it makes sure belts are adhesive. If it is chemically unsound, the tire may oxidize.
Inner belt gauges are a rubber coating located between the tire's belts. These gauges keep the tire from cracking. If the gauges are too thin, the tire may be defective.
To prevent cracking and treat separation, wedges are placed around the tire and between the belts. Wedges should be at least 0.04 inches wide to function properly.
Tread separation may also be prevented by nylon caps. Nylon caps are used to protect the steel belts in the tire. Properly designed caps can effectively prevent tire treads from separating.
Tire treads are an extremely important to the integrity and safety of the tire. Simply put, tire treads help vehicle avoid skidding and slipping by providing traction.
Tread separation is the most common type of tire tread defect. If the treads separate, the rubber between the belts could separate, causing one belt to detach from the tire. When the belts separate like this, the driver can lose control of the vehicle. Sometimes, tread separation is caused by inadequate tire design or defective valve stems. The valve stem allows air to enter/exit the tire and is usually sealed by pressure. If manufactured incorrectly, the valve can leak.

Truck Accidents Caused by Tire Blowouts

Truck accidents caused by tire blowouts are extremely dangerous and cause many traffic accidents. Unfortunately, many tire blowouts are preventable if a driver properly maintains his or her vehicle. To do so, a driver should inspect the entire vehicle to ensure that all parts are safely secured and ready for travel during an inspection before leaving.

So what causes a tire to suddenly blowout or burst?

Many studies suggest that several factors can lead to such an incident, including cargo overload, damage from impact, slices in the tire that causes it to give way, or a small cut that slowly leaks air until the tire can no longer support the large vehicle.

Who Is Responsible for a Tire Blowout?

When a tire ruptures, there are several parties who may be responsible, including the driver themselves, the owner of the truck, the manufacturer, trucking company, and more.

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Arnold & Itkin LLP: Fighting for Truck Accident Victims

If you suspect that your accident was caused by a poorly manufactured tire, call our office today and see what an attorney from the firm can do for you. In order to establish liability in your personal injury claim, you must be able to demonstrate that your tire was manufactured defectively and that the tire defect was responsible for your accident. Arnold & Itkin LLP can help you establish an effective, aggressive strategy to get you the compensation you need.