Langdon & Emison Published on the Dangers of Expired Tires - 2012-01-15

A new article in the Winter 2012 edition of The Safety Report by Langdon & Emison attorney Brett A. Emison highlights the potential dangers of driving on tires that are well past their prime. The article, "The Hidden Dangers of Older Tires," discusses how tire companies have known for decades about the dangers of older tires, yet numerous studies show that the general public is unaware of this critical danger.  

As described in the article, factors in addition to ordinary highway wear that contribute to tire failure include:

• Age of the tire:  Tires deteriorate with age and older tires have a much higher risk of failure than newer tires with similar wear and tread depth.
• Use of the tire:  Tire deterioration is accelerated when the tire is stored and not used on a regular basis.
• Temperature:  Tire deterioration is accelerated by heat.  Tires used primarily in warmer climates (such as the desert southwest) have a higher risk of failure than tires used in cooler climates.

Tire manufacturers are required to provide the date on which the tire was manufactured, but not the expiration date after which the tire should not be used.  This is worsened by the fact that the “born on” date is provided using a cryptic code that most consumers – and even most tire installers – are unable to accurately read and, until only recently, were placed on the inside wall of the tire making the manufacture date very difficult to find.

Brett's article includes the following checklist, "How to Determine the Age of Your Tire":

• Each tire has a required Department of Transportation (DOT) number  imprinted on at least one of its sidewalls.  That number begins with the letters “DOT” and may contain up to 12 additional numbers and letters.  The first and last digits are the most important.
• The first two letters or numbers identify the manufacturer of the tires.
• Prior to the year 2000, the last 3 digits of the DOT number represented the week (2 digits) and year (1 digit) of production.  So if the last three digits were 408, the tire was produced in the 40^th week of the 8^th year of the decade.  There was no universal identifier that confirmed which decade in which the tire was manufactured (however, tires produced in the 1990s may have a small triangle following the Tire Identification Number).
• Tires produced after January 1, 2000 have a 4-digit date code at the end of the DOT number.  The first 2 digits represent the week of production and the last 2 digits represent the last 2 digits of the year of production.  So, 5107 indicates that the tire was produced in the 51^st week of the year 2007.