Whether you're driving to the beach on a sizzling day or hitting the freeways for a long summer road trip, the condition of your vehicle's tires could mean the difference between life and death.
On a driving vacation the last thing you want to do is load up the family and luggage in a vehicle with underinflated or worn-out tires, safety experts say.
Each year an estimated 23,000 crashes, including about 535 fatal accidents, involve blowouts or flat tires, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Checking tire pressure is crucial, says David Skaien, auto repair specialist with AAA and the Automobile Club of Southern California. Underinflated tires can lead to disaster, particularly when the weather is hot and the vehicle is overloaded, he warns.
As Dan Zielinski, spokesman for the Rubber Manufacturers Assn., a Washington trade group that represents tire makers, puts it, "Heat is the enemy of a tire."
Long, high-speed drives on tires with low pressure build up heat and can lead to blowouts.
"Driving on underinflated tires -- even on short trips -- can cause damage internally to the tire. The damage is cumulative," Zielinski says.
Tire safety gained attention in 2000 after hundreds of deaths and injuries in rollover accidents involving Ford Explorer sport utility vehicles were linked to certain Firestone tires. Federal investigators believed that the accidents were caused, in part, when tread separated from Firestone tires that were underinflated.
Driving on underinflated tires can damage the tire's sidewalls because they come in contact with the pavement. In turn, damage to the sidewalls and tread weakens the tire and can lead to a flat tire or blowout. Driving on underinflated tires also cuts fuel economy, Skaien says.
To improve tire safety, NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey W. Runge last month announced new federal regulations that included stricter tire testing and higher performance standards. Under the new rules, tires on SUVs and other light trucks must meet the same performance standards as tires on passenger cars.
The tests will increase the maximum speed at which tires are tested for endurance. The regulations also call for auto manufacturers eventually to put tire sensing monitors on new vehicles to warn drivers when the air pressure is low. Only a few models currently on the market offer such updated tire pressure information.
