How much do you know about truck tire blowouts?
If you are among the thousands of motorists who take the freeway to work or school, chances are very good there are certain roadside sights you’ve become accustomed to seeing on your daily commute. For example, you’re probably used to seeing various forms of litter, the remains of accidents past and, of course, so-called “road gators.”
If you’re uncertain as to this last point, a road gator is simply a slang term for the pieces of truck tire tread that remain scattered after a blowout. While it may be tempting to dismiss these failed tire treads as yet more roadside detritus, more often than not they are a visual manifestation of negligence on the part of a trucker or a trucking company.
What exactly is a tire blowout?
A blowout occurs when the tire on which the truck is riding experiences a massive structural failure that causes it to come apart. Here, this structural failure can be caused by a large cut that rapidly deflates the tire, or a slow puncture/leak that causes the tire to lose pressure on a more gradual basis.
Are trucks more likely to experience a blowout at certain times of the year?
While a truck can experience a tire blowout at any time of the year and in any area of the nation, experts indicate that there is indeed a sort of tire blowout season, meaning a timeframe in which they are more likely to occur.
Unfortunately for us, we are technically in the middle of this season, which experts say runs from late spring (May) to early fall (October). Here, the theory is that the conditions during this timeframe, while conducive to driving faster and farther distances, also serve to heat up the road surface considerably, something that can exacerbate an underlying tire problem.
How dangerous are tire blowouts?
Truck tire blowouts are exceedingly dangerous. That’s because they can not only cause the truck driver to lose control of their massive rig, which is already traveling at high speeds, but also send what amounts to 50-pound pieces of tire shrapnel into surrounding traffic.
We’ll continue this discussion in our next post, examining some of the causes of tire blowouts.
In the meantime, if you’ve been seriously injured or lost a loved one in a truck accident caused by the recklessness of a trucker or trucking company, consider speaking with an experienced legal professional to learn more about your options for seeking justice.