Chattanooga Truck Tire Blowout Attorneys

A tire “blows out” when it rapidly loses air pressure. The swiftness and extremeness of the event will cause a truck driver to lose control of their enormous, unwieldy vehicle, which may cause them to swerve, jackknife, or even rollover. Even a highly skilled driver will have difficulty bringing a truck experiencing a tire blowout to a safe stop, especially if they were traveling at high speeds on a highway like the I-75.

It may not be clear why a tire blew out in the immediate aftermath of an accident. Our Chattanooga truck tire blowout attorneys are prepared to investigate what happened and ascertain liability.

A tire blowout may be triggered by one or more factors, such as:

• Failure to replace an overworn tire. Even top-quality, professional-grade tires do not last forever, especially when they travel hundreds of thousands of miles over many years. Like any other vehicle component, tires have a shelf life, and they become more prone to fail the older they get. Because of the risks huge trucks pose to other vehicles on the road, truck owners and truck companies must exercise an extra level of care when maintaining and inspecting tires as well as deciding when to replace them.

• Cargo overload. Every truck has a maximum weight capacity that must be observed. When a truck is overloaded beyond this capacity, additional strain is placed on the vehicle’s tires, making a blowout dramatically more likely.
• Heat. High temperatures also put an increased strain on tires, which is why blowouts are generally more common in warmer months.
• Improper braking. Braking failure or overly aggressive braking can quickly wear down the tread of a tire, increasing the chance of a blowout.
• Potholes. Hitting a pothole at a high speed or at the wrong angle can cause the impacted tire to explode. Truck drivers must be especially cautious when navigating roads known to contain potholes and other hazards.
• Use of the wrong tire. Not all tires are right for large trucks. Mismatching tires or using the wrong size tire may make a blowout inevitable. 
• Tire defects. In some cases, there is nothing a truck driver could have done to prevent a blowout. If the tire itself is defective, it may suffer a blowout without warning, even when the driver operates their vehicle with the utmost caution and does everything right.