Our Houston injury attorneys have written multiple times on the dangers posed by sudden tire failure. We’ve described how a sudden tire tread separation or blowout while you’re on the highway can cause a deadly crash. And just recently we mentioned the additional toll that the scorching Texas heat and sun takes on your tires, aging and weakening them before their time.
News reports have been filled over the last few days with accounts of the mounting toll in lives taken by a single vehicle pickup truck crash on U.S. Highway 59 between Goliad and Beeville, TX. The pickup truck was jam packed with 23 illegal immigrants when it ran off the road on Sunday and crashed into a tree, apparently at high speed.
So far 15 of the people in that pickup truck have died, and 8 of them remain hospitalized. As overloaded as the truck was, a lot of the injuries and fatalities might have resulted when victims were forcibly ejected from the truck on impact. Investigators say the victims of the deadly Texas crash were from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. The driver of the pickup truck, 22-year-old Ricardo Mendoza-Pineda, was among those killed in the crash near Goliad.
Officials are now saying that a front tire that came apart likely contributed to the crash. As yet, they have not mentioned the brand of the tire or whether the tread separation resulted from tire age and wear or from a manufacturing defect. Our Houston injury attorneys point out that either factor might cause a deadly tire tread separation crash. And things like heat, overloading a vehicle, over inflation of the tire, or under inflation can also precipitate a tire’s blowout and tread separation.
This particular sudden tire failure accident proved unusually deadly because the pickup truck was packed with so many people. This deadly Texas crash on U.S. Highway 59 near Goliad, TX provides a particularly saddening example of what can happen when a tire fails because of a hidden defect, age, or wear.
Tire failure accidents are notorious for causing rollovers and deadly vehicle ejections. The Ford Explorer-Firestone Tire combination that brought the issue of tire failure into the news some years ago was linked to hundreds of fatalities from deadly rollover crashes. We remind you that around 75% of victims ejected from a vehicle in a crash suffer fatal injuries.
Our Houston injury attorneys remind you to check your tires for age or wear on a regular basis. Make sure that the tires are properly inflated. And pay attention to the tire recall announcements that come out on a regular basis. You can sign up to receive notification of these recall notices on the NHTSA website. You, your passengers’ safety, and even your very lives could depend upon your care and attention to your tires.
Learn more about the dangers from sudden tire failure-related accidents and what you could do in the event of a serious crash in this article from our Houston injury attorneys.