It may surprise you to learn that seat belts and airbags aren’t the most important safety features of your car; it’s actually the tires. This might make more sense when you realize that those four round black things are the only part of your car that touches the ground. Most drivers neglect taking care of their tires and 35% of them can’t even tell that their tires are bald. This is a scary statistic. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that cars with worn out tires are three times more likely to end up in a crash. 40% of car owners believe they can tell if their tires are under-inflated just by looking at them. This is not true and only 17% know how to check the pressure in their tires. Car owners need to monitor tire pressure, suspension alignment and tread depth. They also need to rotate their tires. Today, cars have tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) to alert you when tire pressure is low. The problem is that this warning light only comes on when a tire is 25% below its recommended pressure. At this point, you already have a problem.
Sale of Unsafe Used Tires in Texas
Retreaded tires account for half of all truck tires. Tires that are retreaded are done by professionals and allows them to last a lot longer than a new tire would. These tires are taken off of cars after they have worn out and are then sold to other drivers instead of being taken to the junkyard or used as barriers at the racetrack. Unfortunately, there isn’t a legal standard for used tires in the United States. This makes the process of collecting and inspecting them a crap shoot. Some are done responsibly and stand by their work, while others don’t. Some states have passed legislation to prevent the sale of unsafe used tires and other states are working with lawmakers to make it happen.
Tire Tread Depth, Wear & Pressure Check
Tire pressure should be checked once a month and should be done when the tires are cold. Gases expand when they get hot, and the hot tire pressure can be three to four PSI higher. Check the tread depth when you check the tire pressure. You can use a penny to check the tread depth of your tires. Put a penny into several grooves across the tire with Lincoln’s head upside down and facing you. If you can see all of Lincoln’s head, you have less than 2/32-inch tread depth and you need to get new tires. The alignment needs to be checked once a year because tires can wear unevenly if the alignment is out. This can make handling the vehicle more difficult. Have the tires rotated at the same time.
Towing & Roadside Assistance in Irving, Fort Worth, Arlington, Carrolton & Plano Texas
It is more important to inspect your tires and maintain them, rather than follow tire and car company recommendations. If you aren’t comfortable or confident in checking your tires yourself then have the professionals do it for you. Most will do it for free. If you happen to experience car trouble in the road, contact Speedway Towing & Roadside Assistance for help.
