Your sunglasses are waiting on the dashboard. The cooler is full of ice and sodas. Your collection of CDs is on the front seat. And the luggage is packed in the hatchback.
Everything is ready for your end-of-summer family vacation. Or is it? There's one item that is easy to forget but could have some terrible consequences if neglected.
Tire pressure.
Driving on bald or under-inflated tires on hot summer days can lead to disaster, auto safety and tire experts warn. Underinflated tires fail because they overheat, which leads to the breakdown of the tire's internal structure.
Improper inflation also can reduce your ability to control your vehicle. Dangerous tire blowouts occur more during summer months than at any other time of the year, safety advocates say. If you are traveling in an SUV or pickup truck, the risk can be even greater.
Despite the risks in driving on bald or improperly inflated tires, motorist neglect is surprisingly high. A survey conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2001 found 27% of passenger cars nationwide were being driven with one or more tires substantially underinflated. For SUVs and light trucks, occurence rose to 32%.
Improperly inflated and worn tires can also lead to deadly rollover crashes, says Liz Neblett, NHTSA spokeswoman. Besides the risk of blowouts, poor tire condition can also cause a vehicle to slide sideways off the road on wet or slippery pavement, increasing the risk of rolling over.
Certainly, proper tire maintenance is always important for vehicle safety. But as temperatures continue to rise this month, motorists need to pay even more attention to the health of their tires, says Dave Skaien, automotive specialist with the Automobile Club of Southern California.
"On days when the mercury hits the 90s and 100s, the number of Auto Club members experiencing breakdowns increases by 50%," Skaien says. In Southern California alone last summer, the Auto Club changed 152,740 flat tires.
"Properly inflated tires last longer, run quieter, grip better, increase fuel mileage and safely support and control your vehicle," says John Rastetter of the Tire Rack, a company that retails tires and also conducts independent tire testing.
Based on the results of NHTSA's 2001 survey, the company estimates that of 221.8 million registered passenger cars, SUVs and light trucks on the road, 65 million of them are being driven with one or more underinflated tires.
