Truck Tires & Tire Failure Accidents
We all rely on our four tires to keep us moving smoothly and safely down the road. Semi-trucks and tractor-trailers have 18 wheels and 18 tires to consider. A truck tire failure is not only a danger to the driver of the big rig but can cause serious injury or death to other vehicle drivers in the vicinity. With their massive size and weight and the considerable time it takes to come to a stop or bring under control, a truck crash caused by a tire failure is likely to cause catastrophic injury or death to the occupants of the smaller, lighter vehicle struck in the collision.
Even if the truck driver does not lose control of the 18-wheeler, truck tires are truly massive, heavy objects inflated to three times as much pressure as a passenger tire and weighing over 100 pounds. In a truck tire failure, massive pieces of the tire can fly through the air at tremendous speeds, throwing a large obstruction onto the road or striking a car with enough force to shatter or crack the windshield.
If you’ve been hurt in a truck accident where tire failure may have been a cause, call Halpern Santos Pinkert toll-free from anywhere in the country. Our tire litigation attorneys have vast experience helping victims of car and truck accidents where tire failures were a contributing factor. Our lawyers understand the complex process of identifying who the responsible parties are and bringing a successful case against them, so that you can get the care and compensation you deserve after a serious accident.
Trucking Companies Fail to Maintain Tires
Truck tires should be inspected before every trip to ensure they are in a safe condition for long-distance highway travel. This includes inspecting the tires for proper inflation as well as wear. Tires with cracks in the sidewall, worn-down tread, or steel belts or treads showing through should be replaced.
Tragically, these routine inspections are often overlooked, and tire maintenance or replacement is simply not conducted. Roadside inspections by government safety officials frequently result in thousands of trucks being immediately pulled from service every year for tire problems related to tread depth, mismatched tires, chunking, bumps, knots, bulges, exposed cords or belting and other tell-tale signs of tires that should not be on the road.
Another common danger comes from trucks being overloaded, surpassing federal regulations on maximum load or the tire’s own load rating. A truck may also be improperly loaded even if not overloaded. An unbalanced load can result in too much pressure on one or more tires, causing them to fail at critical moments.
Trucking companies are known to falsify documents to make it look like they were in compliance with safety regulations when they weren’t. Our team of experienced injury attorneys in Florida know how to investigate an accident and determine its cause, so that we can hold the responsible parties accountable for their negligence or outright misconduct. We’ll know whether the cause of the crash was a tire defect, improper maintenance by the carrier company, negligence of a tire service provider, or some combination of responsibility among multiple parties.
Talk to Our Tire Litigation Attorneys after a Truck Tire Accident in the U.S.
If you or a loved one suffered harm in a serious truck accident anywhere in the country, and you believe a tire defect or failure may have played a role in the accident, contact the nationwide truck tire litigation lawyers Halpern Santos Pinkert at 877-529-6211 for a free, confidential consultation with a team of leading truck tire defect attorneys.
