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Driving Safety: Tire blow-outs in all their glory

By Megan Roth

Michelin, Firestone, Bridgestone, Dunlop, Goodyear – if you drive a vehicle, you’re bound to be familiar with at least one of these brands.

Driving a vehicle also means you’re also at risk for a tire blowout (which is what happens when a tire burst and rapidly loses air pressure). Tire blowouts are common (in fact, they cause 23,000 collisions and result in approximately 535 fatalities each year).

Heck, I’ve been involved in not one, but two tire blowouts! And the worst part is there’s no way to predict when they’ll happen. Both of the experiences I’ve had with tire blowouts occurred when we were traveling at highway speeds due to an inadequate tire pressure.

What do I mean “inadequate tire pressure?” Well, tire blowouts occur when either A) there is too much air in the tire (as the wheels turn, they heat up (kinetic energy, folks), which causes the air molecules inside the tire to expand. Obviously their contained within the tire and, as they continue to expand, the pressure grows stronger until finally one of the treads just bursts) or B) when there is too little air in the tire.

Often times you’ll hear a “BOOM” when the blowout occurs; however, sometimes the incident isn’t quite announced. Odds are that the car will begin to pull in the direction of the side on which the blowout occurred; keep both hands on the steering wheel in order to prevent veering off the road and, whatever you do, DON’T slam on the brakes! Instead, slowly let up on the gas and then ease your foot onto the brake in order to decrease speed slowly.

Ease off onto the shoulder of the road, park the car and turn on your hazards while you either A) swap out the tire with a spare or B) wait for help.

Any one of the tires can blow-out while driving and each presents certain dangers; however, front tire blowouts are generally serious than back (as they will often pull your steering wheel to the side) and the faster you’re traveling the more severe the accident that is bound to occur will be.

The easiest way to avoid such severities is to take proper care of your tires. Check the tire pressure regularly, rotate the tires as needed to ensure equal wear on each and check frequently to make sure the tires hadn’t been punctured in one way or another.

And while these precautionary measures can prove beneficial in terms of preventing a blowout, they don’t even come close to ensuring your safety.

In fact, in the last few years that responsibility has essentially fallen upon the shoulders of the tiremakers themselves as there have been several mass recalls of tires resulting from defects and the increased likelihood of those tires to crack or split (which often results in tire blowout).

Firestone/Bridgestone fell in step with other tire makers in August 2000 when they issued a voluntary recall of approximately 6.5 million tires. The financial impact of such a recall was huge but it would’ve been much greater from the lawsuits that would’ve undoubtedly ensued had they left the tires as were.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Megan Roth

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on February 20, 2009 (boomark / email).