Common Tire Defects
As previously stated, tire defects can be the result of many different factors such as poor design, faulty or incompatible materials, improper storage, or flawed production and manufacturing. Tire detreading, sometimes referred to as tread separation, occurs when the outermost tread of the tire suddenly separates from the layers under it. Detreading is the most common mode of tire failure in steel-belted radial tires, and it can be attributed to a variety of different design and manufacturing defects. Tread separation can lead to rapid tire pressure loss or blowout causing a driver to lose control of the vehicle. This loss of control frequently results in serious or fatal vehicle rollovers and other traffic accidents.
Other common tire defects include bead failures, which can result in a tire explosion during the mounting process even at low pressure; so-called zipper failures, when a tire explodes due to a defective sidewall; blowouts or ruptures; tread or tensile cracks; faulty tire stems; and ply separation. Defective tire design or manufacturing, regardless of the form it takes, can lead to the failure of the tire and the loss of vehicle control resulting in serious or fatal traffic accidents. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), between 1966 and the present, approximately 46 million tires have been recalled due to serious safety-related defects.
