As a driver, you recognize some of the most critical parts of your car and their function to protect you. However, not everyone checks specific components of their vehicles to ensure they are the highest quality possible. This oversight is common when it comes to the tire tread.
You must ensure that your tires have enough tread to keep you safe on the road. The tread is what creates traction between your tires and the road, allowing you to retain control of your vehicle in certain situations. Low tire tread can be very dangerous.
How Dangerous Is Low Tire Tread?
Low tire tread means you don’t have the same traction, and it’s easy for you to lose control when you hit slippery patches on the floor. Large puddles can also cause you to hydroplane, which is when the tire loses contact with the ground, and you may lose control.
To check your tire tread, you can use a penny and the following steps:
- Take a penny and turn it upside down;
- Place the penny headfirst onto the tire’s grooves in between the tread;
- Use Lincoln’s head as a gauge;
- If the tread covers most of Lincoln’s head, you should be good;
- If the tread doesn’t cover the top of Lincoln’s head, you need new tires.
Protecting yourself means you must take steps to maintain your vehicle properly. When you’re tire tread is low, and you don’t replace the tire, you can cause severe harm in a crash.
What Else Should I Know?
While you should typically change your tire when there is 2/32” left, the rain complicates this theory. The rain makes it more challenging to gain traction. You should change your tire when there is 4/32” of tread depth left.
There must be enough room between the grooves to push the rain through and allow the water to escape. If there’s not enough tread, you can hydroplane without even encountering a puddle, and you may lose traction. Loss of traction lengthen your stopping distance, and a collision can occur.
At The Kalka Law Group, we recognize how you may sustain an injury when another driver fails to perform maintenance on his or her vehicle. Our Atlanta car accident attorneys can use this information to determine what negligence exists and what legal options are available.
Call us today at (404) 529-9371 for a negligence-related injury case.