Milk, has a born on date. So does orange juice. Sell before (this date), do not use after (this date). Over the counter drugs, aspirin, peptol bismol, just about everything we buy as consumers, has a born on date. You even know when your car was built. It’s a 2002 Mazda, a ‘67 chevy.
What about your tires? Do you know when they were built? Do you know how long they are supposed to last? Do you know when they expire? Do we just go by a visual inspection and look at the depth of the tread?
Tires, like any other rubber product, have a limited service life regardless of tread depth and use. As tires age, their physical and chemical properties degrade reducing their margin of safety. Whether a tire is old and unsafe cannot be detected by the naked eye. Tires undergo an aging process even when the are not in use. The rubber loses its elasticity, the steel webbing corrodes and the rubber hardens. A tire that has been in storage for years will look brand new and is extremely dangerous. And in spite of all this, the tire industry has done little if nothing to warn us about the risks of old tires.
Some experts take the position that a tire is unsafe after 4 years whether it was used or not, others say 6 years, but the tire industry will not make such a statement a former Michelin tire engineer advocated “sell by” or expiration dates back in the 1980’s, but historically the industry has ignored such requests.
There are a lot of old tires that are being sold as new, and these tires are dangerous. The tread comes apart, causing a loss of control of the vehicle and in many instances a rollover with catastrophic injuries.
My firm specializes in suing tire manufacturers for tire aging problems, for defective tires resulting in tread separations and both design and manufacturing defects. I regularly use the best tire experts and best accident reconstruction experts in the world. Our Law Offices provide aggressive, competent and reliable representation, so if you or a loved one has been injured or suffered a fatality as a result of a defective tire please call or e mail me for a free consultation.