Texas tire blowout accident attorneys caution Texans to examine their tires’ condition this summer for safety. A fortuitous flat led this writer to discover that all 4 tires on my vehicle were in deplorable condition and in need of replacement. Specifically, the tire repair technician said they showed evidence of “dry rot.”
On the flat, nail-punctured tire he removed, the treads of the tire showed slight cracking and splitting, as well as that telltale dull gray of deformed and decaying rubber. Unlike after an earlier flat about two years ago, the tire rubber was no longer flexible or malleable. After removal, the tire remained in the ugly, deformed position it had taken on in the parking lot after the air left the tire.
Now these tires weren’t that old. They were only 5 years old. The tires were not recalled, nor were they among the least expensive types of tires.
You may recall from our Texas tire blowout accident attorneys’ earlier articles on tire safety that 6 years represents the manufacturers’ default position for tire replacement. And indeed I had an entry in my calendar for next year to buy new tires for my vehicle. The rubber industry often insists that tires will actually serve you well for many additional years past the recommended 6.
Not in the Texas summer heat and strong sunlight they won’t. Heat and sunlight are among your tires’ greatest enemies. In the absence of other wear and errant roofing nails, high temperatures and sunlight alone will degrade your tires. Sudden tread separations, blowouts, and catastrophic rollover accidents could follow.
My tires were ready to fail at any time. I consider myself lucky that a flat caused me to find out about my tires’ condition this year before I experienced tread separation or a catastrophic blowout. Waiting to replace the tires until after next summer clearly was not a good plan. Given our strong summer heat and sunlight conditions, our Texas tire blowout accident attorneys caution that Texans should be aware that they need to check their tires’ condition more frequently than those drivers living in states with cooler weather.