If you’ve driven on American highways for any amount of time, you’ve probably seen shredded tires on the side of the road. These aren’t isolated incidents. There are tens of thousands of truck tire blowouts each year, many of them leading to serious crashes, often involving multiple vehicles. What exactly are the dangers of these tire blowouts? Let’s find out.
Tire Blowouts
Blowouts aren’t as simple as a flat. At high speeds, they’re often sudden and unexpected. Worse, a truck driver impacted by a tire blowout may lose control of their vehicle and find themselves drifting across the road.
There are several reasons a truck’s tire may burst. Often, it’s an issue of negligent maintenance and vehicle upkeep. A few of the most common causes for tire blowouts include:
Low tire pressure
Excessively heat (especially in summer)
Defective or recalled tires
Improper cargo distribution
Overloaded trailer
Wrong tire size
Double Threat
The most dangerous thing about a tire blowout is that it impacts drivers both ahead of the truck and behind it. When the tire explodes, scraps of rubber go flying toward the rear at high speeds. If someone is closely following a truck, they might be struck by flying rubber. A truck tire is heavy and has the potential to crack a windshield or go through it altogether, potentially causing injury or a chain-reaction crash.
At the same time, a tire blowout can cause a truck driver to lose control of the vehicle. This means a truck might drift out of its lane and knock a smaller vehicle off the road. In more extreme cases, the truck could cross the median and go hurtling into oncoming traffic.
Contact an Experienced Truck Accident Attorney
Truck accidents tend to cause significantly more damage than other types of crashes. In particular, head-on trucking crashes are often deadly. Therefore, it’s crucial that truck accident victims and their families hold the trucking companies responsible for their negligence and pursue the full damages they are entitled to under the law.
If you or someone you love suffered serious injuries in a trucking accident, we are here for you. If you’d like to discuss the impact of your crash with an experienced truck accident attorney, don’t hesitate to call upon Maring Williams Law Office. Our firm serves injured parties across North Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana. Send us an email or call us today at (701) 402-6644 for a free consultation.
