Tire Blowout Truck Accident Lawyers in Kansas
If you’ve ever driven down a highway, you’ve probably come across pieces of shredded truck tires on the road. Maybe you drove around it and went on your way without giving it a second thought. But these minor inconveniences are actually evidence of a very serious situation.
When a semi-truck’s tire blows out, it can cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle and may result in an accident. The size and weight of a semi-truck can cause significant damage, devastating injuries, and even result in the loss of life. According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 622 fatalities in crashes that involved a blown tire.
What Is a Truck Blowout Accident?
The term tire blowout generally refers to when a tire quickly loses air pressure, usually due to some kind of hole or tear in the tire. Often, a blown tire will start shredding apart, strewing debris down the road.
Tire blowouts can lead to dangerous accidents because they can cause the vehicle to become unstable. Truck drivers are trained on how to handle a tire blowout, but these situations are unpredictable from start to finish. A properly trained and very experienced driver can easily lose control of their truck after a blowout. Once a semi-truck gets out of control, there are four primary types of truck accidents that can result:
- Rollover accidents. After a blowout, a rollover accident can occur if the driver suddenly jerks the wheel or slams on the brakes.
- Rear-end accidents. A truck with a blown tire may not be able to stop properly, or it may suddenly decelerate. Either situation causes an increased risk of rear-end accidents.
- Head-on collisions. An out-of-control truck with a blown tire can swerve into oncoming traffic, causing an accident.
- Falling cargo accidents. When a large truck is out of control, it can cause cargo to fall off the back, causing an accident.
But what exactly causes a tire to fail in this way? Let’s explore the reasons.
Causes of Tire Blowout Accidents
Many different factors can result in a tire blowout. Semi-truck tires are made to be robust and very durable. However, they aren’t impervious to damage, and they require proper care. Often, several different factors contribute to a tire blowout accident. These factors can include:
Under or Overinflation
Truck tires are designed to be inflated within a certain pressure range. If a tire is underinflated, it will cause excessive friction as it rolls against the road. This can cause excessive wear that weakens the tire, and it increases the chances of failure. If a tire is overinflated, it puts the tire under excessive pressure and increases the risk of a blowout.
Overloaded Cargo
Trucking companies and drivers are under pressure to move as much cargo as possible, and this pressure can cause them to overload their trucks with too much cargo. This excess weight puts too much pressure on the tires and increases the risk of a blowout. This is one reason why transportation regulations have established maximum cargo weights for four different truck classes. That means a truck driver or company that overloads their trucks isn’t just being irresponsible; they’re also violating the law.
Worn Tires
If you drive a car, then you probably know that tires must be regularly rotated and replaced. When semi-truck tires have excessive wear, it significantly increases friction that heats up the tire and increases the odds of a blowout. Truck drivers share a large part of the responsibility for making sure that the tires on their trucks do not have too much wear on them.
Tread Separation
Most truck tires are steel-belted radials, which have tread affixed to two steel belts wrapping around the tire. This assembly is bonded to the sidewalls of the tire.
Steel-belted radial tires are designed to prevent blowouts, but they are much more vulnerable to a phenomenon known as tread separation. In fact, most incidents that are referred to as blowouts are actually tread separations. This happens when the steel belts inside a tire tread come apart, causing the tread to come off the tire. This causes the tire to break apart and can be very dangerous for drivers on the highway.
Damage
When a truck tire hits a pothole or object in the road, it can easily cause damage. Minor damage causes a tire to weaken over time, while a complete tear or puncture can cause a tire to deflate quickly. Even a small leak caused by damage can result in a blowout because the slow deflation of a tire increases friction and the risk of failure as a result.
Defective Tires
Tire defects can cause tread separations, sidewall failures, tire shredding, and more. Even the smallest defect can increase the chance of a tire blowout because semi-truck tires are often driven on bad roads and in challenging conditions.
When it comes to making steel-belted radials, adhering rubber to steel requires chemical precision, and small mistakes in a production process can result in defective tires hitting the market. These defective tires are much more vulnerable to the heat and pressure that most semi-truck tires are under. Because tread separations can be so catastrophic, they are often the subject of tire recalls. In 2000, the NHTSA announced one of the biggest tire recalls in history due to the risk of separation. This recall mostly affected light trucks and SUVs.
Heat
There’s no avoiding the factor that semi-truck tires experience extreme heat, and this is another massive cause of tire blowouts. Driving a truck for very long periods of time puts significant thermal strain on tires, especially in high temperatures, and this causes them to be much more vulnerable to blowouts. As you may imagine, most tire blowouts occur in warm weather. In fact, mid-May and early October have been dubbed Tire Blowout Season.
Braking Issues
Whether it’s due to mechanical defects or bad technique, improper braking is another major cause of blowouts. For example, “riding the brakes” — like when driving down a steep incline — can lead to issues. Because of this, drivers ought to shift to their lowest gear when driving on a steep downhill. Likewise, slamming on the brakes can strain a truck’s tires and cause them to rupture.
Drivers need to watch out for road hazards so they can avoid braking too quickly. For instance, if a truck driver sees that traffic is slowing to a crawl, they can start to brake slowly, having plenty of room to stop. In addition, brakes should regularly be inspected and maintained to decrease the risk of blowouts.
What a Truck Driver Should Do When a Tire Blowout Occurs
Although a truck tire blowout might seem like an extreme situation, it can actually go unnoticed in some situations, especially when a tire blows out on a trailer.
That said, blowouts aren’t predictable, and that’s what makes them so dangerous. If a trailer tire blows out and the trailer is carrying a light load or empty, the driver can “limp along” for dozens of miles to the nearest truck stop for service.
The problem with limping or “nursing” the truck along is that it can cause the other tires to heat up, causing them to blow out as well. Nursing the truck along with a blown tire can also shred the tire and release all kinds of debris on the road. This isn’t a great option, but it can be the best one available.
If the trailer is heavily loaded, getting to a service station will be more difficult. If the truck is driving on a highway with a shoulder and limping along doesn’t seem like an option, the driver should pull over, put on their four-way emergency lights, and contact someone for service. The shoulder should be wide enough for the truck to get safely serviced to avoid a rear-end collision.
The most critical situation is when there’s a blowout on a steering tire. This immediately causes a dangerous situation, and many drivers will recommend not slamming on the brakes when it happens. Breaking too quickly can cause the truck to get into a rollover accident. The best course of action is for the driver to take their foot off the brake and gently take the truck over to the shoulder of the road.
Who Is Liable for a Tire Blowout in Kansas?
If you were hurt as a result of a truck tire blowout, including as a result of tire debris on the road, there are a few things to think about. A tire blowout truck accident lawyer should be able to help you with the details of different situations.
Tire debris is legally considered a road hazard, and any minor damage may be covered by your insurance policy. If another car kicks up tire debris and it flies into your car, they likely aren’t liable for any damage caused.
If you are in an accident with a truck that has just suffered a blowout, the trucking business might be liable. If the blowout was caused by a defective tire, the tire company may be liable. If a truck suffered a blowout after being poorly maintained, the driver and or the company might be liable. Truck drivers are legally required to inspect their tires regularly. Those examinations could be essential to maintaining the safety of the other drivers who will also be on the road.
Determining if a tire blowout could have been avoided and, if so, which parties are accountable for neglecting to avoid the blowout usually requires the help of a tire blowout truck accident lawyer who has comprehensive experience in these matters.
Let Our Team of Kansas Truck Accident Lawyers Fight for You
At Bretz Injury Law, our team of attorneys is very experienced when it comes to truck accidents. Our legal experts are very familiar with the operation of semi-trucks and trucking industry regulations. We are also willing to take large insurance and trucking companies to court if necessary.
Unlike other firms that rush to get a settlement, Bretz Injury Law will investigate trucking companies and hold them responsible if they are to blame. If you are looking for a law firm that’s willing to go the extra mile for your case, contact us online or call 620-RESULTS today.
