Blowout-Related Crashes a Top Cause of Car Accidents

You may not think about it much when considering your safety while driving, but poorly-maintained or damaged tires can cause serious accidents on the road. Read on to learn about ways that blowouts can impact your safety, and how to prevent them from occurring.

Tire blowouts, among the top causes of car accidents, can result from a number of causes. One is poor tire maintenance. When a tire becomes threadbare or has only minimal remaining tread, that tire becomes much more likely to burst. Additionally, a car that is improperly inflated—either too little or too much—is more prone to a blowout. Tires may also have manufacturing or design defects that can also result in blowouts. Finally, hazards in the road, such as potholes or debris, can cause damage that results in a blowout.

While a leaky flat might not cause you to lose control of your car, blowouts are much more violent and abrupt, and can send your car or truck careening into neighboring lanes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has found that about a quarter of all rollover accidents, a type of crash very closely associated with injuries and fatalities for victims, stem from a tire-related issue, including a sudden loss of tire tread or tread separation, blowout, or bead unseating.

In order to prevent a blowout on your own car, be sure to give your tires the attention they need to perform well. Replace low-tread or threadbare tires, and keep your tires inflated to the manufacturer-recommended level of pressure. Overloading your vehicle with a greater quantity of cargo than your tires can withstand can also lead to a blowout. Try to avoid potholes and other road damage, which can cause damage internally to your car’s tires, fraying the threads internally and damaging the treads. Should you be involved in an accident with a car or truck whose driver has not taken the time to ensure that their tires are road-safe, that driver may be liable to you for injuries which resulted from their negligent tire maintenance. An experienced personal injury attorney will know how to build a case that proves that the poor condition of the tires caused a crash.

If you or someone you love has been hurt in a Hudson Valley car accident, contact the knowledgeable Kingston traffic accident lawyer at Rusk, Wadlin, Heppner & Martuscello for a free consultation on your claims, at 845-331-4100 in Kingston or 845-236-4411 in Marlboro.