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As winter and wet weather approaches, you might want to consider more than just whether or not to buy a set of snow tires — you might want to make sure your current tires still have treads.
Almost one in 10 passenger cars is driving with at least one bald tire, according to a study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
| If Lincoln doesn't look bald, your tire is
NHTSA recommends two methods to see if you are driving on bald tires.
For the more technically inclined, balding tires can be detected by checking the built-in wear indicators. These indicators are raised sections intermittently spaced in the bottom of the tread groves.
Once these raised sections appear even to the treads of the tire, you need to buy a new set.
Or you could place a Lincoln penny upside down in the grove between the treads (with the top of Lincoln's head closest to the tire).
If you can see the top of Lincoln's head on the penny, the tire should be replaced. |
"It is vitally important that motorists monitor tread depth to guard against tire failure," says Jeffrey Runge, NHTSA's administrator.
Bald tires, defined as tires with 1/16th of an inch or less of tread depth, can cause drivers to lose traction, especially on wet roads, and are more prone to damage from road debris, says NHTSA.
Furthermore, according to NHTSA, bald tires are more than 1½ times as likely to be underinflated as tires with more tread, and driving on underinflated tires can lead to tread separation and blowouts like those at the center of the dispute between tire maker Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. and Ford Motor Co.
"It is extremely important to motorists' safety that they ensure their tires have ample tread and are properly inflated," says U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. "Motorists who drive on tires that are bald or substantially underinflated risk injuries or fatalities."
Compounding these problems, among the 90 percent of gas stations that have an air pump, less than half provide tire-pressure gauges, and almost 20 percent of air pump pressure gauges significantly overreport the inflation level of tires. Further, 10 percent of gas station air pumps are out of order entirely, according to a second NHTSA report.
The two NHTSA reports are titled "Tire Pressure Special Study Tread Depth Analysis" and "Air Pumps at U.S. Gas Stations: Major Findings Regarding Availability, Reliability and Fees," and have prompted the government agency to consider a new federal auto-safety standard that would warn drivers when their tires have become substantially underinflated.
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