Editorial

Too many old, recalled tires are on the road

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

What do a gallon of milk and a set of tires have in common?

Neither one should be used after the expiration date.

Actually, only the milk has an official expiration date, but some experts think the tires should, too.

In 2013, GM began recommending in its owner manuals that tires should be replaced after six years regardless of tread wear, and Ford and Lincoln have followed suit.

How do you tell how old your tires are?

On the side of the tire, find the letters DOT followed by a string of letters and numbers. At the end, you'll find four numbers that are a "date code," but it's a code that needs to be deciphered.

The first two number are the week of the year the tires were made, and the last two are the year itself.

"1512" for instance, would mean the 15th week of 2012.

But age isn't everything. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating ways that tires that have been recalled for safety defects still find their way onto the roadways. Like too much of goverment action, however, the study came about, in part, because of an accident involving a church van in Florida, which killed two adult church leaders and injured eight others, mostly teens.

Those tires were only 18 months old, but they had been recalled a year earlier, something church officials and mechanics didn't know.

According to the NTSB, there are at least 400 t0 500 deaths a year that are caused by tires that are underinflated, punctured or defective in some other way.

Of course, tires aren't the only thing to worry about before you head out on a long road trip this summer.

Make sure your car is in top mchanical shape, including the cooling system, belts and hoses, battery and electrical system, lights, wipers and washer fluid.

But nothing can interrupt a pleasant journey more quickly than a tire that gives out on scorching highway pavement miles from anywhere on a hot summer day.

Make sure one of the most important parts of your car -- the part in contact with the road -- is in good shape before you set off on your trip.

Check the age of your tires and consider replacing them if they're old, especially if they're weather-checked.

Check for tire recalls and other vehicle safety issues at safercar.gov

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: