NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – If you’re about to hit the road for the vacation weekend, double-check your wheels.
With summertime heating up, drivers have to pay extra attention to their tires.
An undercover The Ones for Justice investigation discovered shops across Dallas-Fort Worth promoting old tires long after tire advocates say they have to be tossed.
Before dropping control of her Jeep, the last element Danielle Escalante heard became a “pop.”
“As my son is distinctive, we hit the wall, and I said, ‘Oh crap,’ and he stated we rolled three times,” Escalante said.
Escalante broke her collarbone and fractured her lower back.
The lower back tire on her Jeep blew out on the President George Bush Turnpike, even though Escalante stated she by no means hit any particles.
Escalante stated she’d just sold the used Jeep the year before with what she considered new tires.
“Maybe the one’s tires weren’t new, maybe they had been sitting there,” stated Escalante.
Escalante and her son, who became 12 at the time, survived.
But that same 12 months, in 2017, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration logged 738 deaths in tire-associated crashes nationally.
Just like food, remedies, or cosmetics, tires can expire.
National safety regulators advise changing tires every six years, irrespective of use.
Depending on the corporation, tire producers say their tires can last anywhere between six and ten years.
“Tires have a shelf life, and they will begin to dry rot through the years, mainly if a tire isn’t used frequently enough,” stated Mark Morgello with the City Garage in Addison.
He stated Texas drivers specifically face some other challenge: heat.
On the morning of Escalante’s crash, it became ninety-five tiers, in step with the National Weather Service.
“The temperature is going up significantly, and if the tire isn’t rated for high temperatures, it received’t take care of it,” Morgello said. “It may want to come aside and harm that tire, especially cheaper tires.”
Morgello stated every single tire has a “start date” listed on its facet wall. The final four digits of the DOT code indicate the week and year the tire became synthetic.
For instance, the quantity “3515” means the tire turned into made for the 35th week of 2015. The wide variety “4617” means the tire was made throughout the 46th week of 2017.
The Ones for Justice determined that old tires are being offered at places throughout Dallas-Fort Worth, with many tires staying on shelves years past the NHSTA recommendation of six years.
Two special used tires stores in Plano have been promoting tires since 2011. Another used tire store in Plano displayed tires from 2012 and 2008.
At a used tire save in south Dallas, tires from 2011, 2009, or even 2007 have been on sale.
A used tire store in East Dallas fared no better. Among tires from 2012 and 2009, the store began additionally promoting tires from 2006 and 2002.
But what about massive container retailers?
The Ones for Justice perused two Sam’s Clubs and a Walmart in North Texas. All tires passed the age check.
Sears turned into an extraordinary story.
We located a 2011 tire on sale at the Mesquite location and a tire from early 2013 on sale at the Fort Worth keep.
At the Sears in Arlington, a salesperson went past the NHSTA advice.
“They advise every five years,” said the salesman, although a tire more than six years old was on display toes away.
A Sears spokesman did not immediately reply to questions about why tires exceeding six years of vintage had been on sale at their stores.
