Of all the safety components on your vehicle, none are more critical—or more frequently neglected—than your tires. They are the only four points of contact between you and the road. When they fail, the result is often a sudden, violent loss of control, leading to a catastrophic accident.

While many assume a tire blowout is a random, unavoidable event, the truth is often more complex. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that hundreds of people are killed in tire-related crashes each year. As their research on tire safety makes clear, many of these “accidents” are entirely preventable and are the direct result of negligence.

When a tire failure causes a crash, determining who is at fault is a critical legal question. The answer can be the key to securing the compensation you need to recover from your injuries.

Two Main Causes of Tire Failure: Negligence and Defects

In a personal injury case, we investigate two primary avenues of liability following a tire-related crash:

1. Negligent Maintenance by the Vehicle Owner Every driver has a legal duty to ensure their vehicle is in a reasonably safe operating condition. This absolutely includes the tires. The NHTSA is clear about basic, required maintenance: checking tire pressure monthly, ensuring adequate tread depth (the “penny test”), and having tires rotated and balanced.

When a driver ignores these basic safety steps, they are acting negligently. We can hold them liable if:

• The Tires Were Bald: A tire is legally bald when its tread is worn down to 2/32 of an inch. A driver who causes a crash while driving on bald tires, which have dangerously reduced traction, is responsible for the harm they cause.
• The Tires Were Underinflated: Improper inflation leads to excessive heat and can cause a sudden blowout.
• The Tires Were Old: Over time, the rubber in tires degrades, making them brittle and prone to failure, even if the tread looks good.

2. A Defective Tire (Product Liability) Sometimes, a tire fails even when it has been properly maintained. This can be due to a defect in how the tire was designed or manufactured. Common tire defects include:

• Tread Separation: This is when the outer tread of the tire peels away from the casing, often causing a complete loss of vehicle control.
• Sidewall Failure: A weak or improperly manufactured sidewall can lead to a sudden blowout.

In these cases, we can file a product liability claim against the tire manufacturer and potentially the retailer who sold it.

How We Build Your Tire-Failure Accident Case Whether the crash involved a passenger car accident, a massive truck accident, or a tragic motorcycle accident, the process is the same. We immediately act to preserve the crucial evidence—the failed tire itself—before it can be destroyed. We then work with top automotive and tire failure experts to analyze the evidence and determine the exact cause of the failure.

In the most devastating cases that result in a fatality, this expert analysis is critical to a wrongful death lawsuit.

You should not have to bear the financial burden of a crash caused by another person’s negligence or a corporation’s defective product. If you have been seriously injured in a tire-related accident, it is essential to have a legal team that understands the complex technical and legal issues involved in these personal injury cases.

Contact Manoukian Law for a free and confidential consultation to learn how we can investigate your case and fight for you.