One particular type of tire failure happens quite often on our nation’s roadways, often with horrific results. It is a tire blowout. While the trucker is driving the rig, one of the tires will burst. There is no warning. The tire explodes, often into pieces, and its air and support of the heavy, moving vehicle disappears.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”) warns that over 8000 large truck crashes are caused each year because of tire failure. Read, Large Truck Crash Causation Study published online by FMCSA, where the agency warns that tire-related crashes are often the result of actions or failures to act that happen days or weeks before the accident.
What happens? With the blowout, the tractor-trailer or big rig can lose its balance as it is moving. The truck driver may not be able to keep control. Great force can come with rigs carrying a full load (think 80,000 pounds of cargo) in a tire blowout.
As a result, the truck can veer into another lane, colliding with other vehicles. There can be a rollover. Cargo can fall off the semi and into the traffic path. Rear-end and head-on collisions are other dangers that come when a semi-truck suffers a tire blowout, especially at high speeds on an interstate (think I-90 or I-290 here in Chicago).
Read, Big Trucks in Chicago: Dangers of 18-Wheeler Accidents in Chicagoland and Why Are There So Many Serious or Fatal Semi-Truck Accidents in Chicagoland?
Reasons for Semi-Truck Tire Blowouts
After a truck crash involving a failed tire, accident investigation may confirm that the cause of the accident was a blown tire on the commercial truck. The questions do not stop there. There are many different reasons for tire blowouts on a semi-truck, corresponding to legal liability with different parties under different areas of the law. They include:
1. Weather: Very Hot or Extreme Cold
Temperature of the roadway as well as the surrounding atmosphere impacts tires in an amazing way, especially here in Chicago with our very hot summers and blizzard-cold winters. Why? The air in the tire will expand or contract with the temperature. Hot temperatures cause the air inside the tire to expand, and this can cause a blowout. Extreme cold will do the reverse; the tire air will contract, and the rubber of the tire can crack in the freezing temperatures. This can also result in a blowout. Read, Tire Blowout Crashes Are Highest Risk in Summer: Real Dangers of Tires Causing Car Crashes and Semi Truck Wrecks in Hot Weather.
2. Road Conditions
Tires with any weakness are vulnerable to blowouts on any stretch of roadway that is not in good repair or that has debris strewn across it. Potholes can cause a tire blowout. So can construction materials that have found their way into the traffic path in a road work construction zone. Unfortunately, this is a huge risk for any semi-trucks roaming through the Chicago area because of the high number of road work zones here as part of Project Rebuild Illinois. See, Dangerous Combination in Chicago: Semi-Truck Traffic and Road Construction Work Zone.
3. Failure in Upkeep and Care of the Truck Tires by the Truck Driver
On the road, the truck driver has a duty to check the tires on the rig. Inspections need to be done as a matter of routine. If the tires are overinflated, that can cause a tire blowout. So can failure to have enough air in the tire (underinflated). Lug nuts should be properly tightened. And the trucker should be concerned and report if there are mismatched tires on the tractor or the trailer (things like different sizes or conditions – even different tire brands – can be a problem when driving vehicles of this size and weight). Read, Tires Cause Crashes: Air Pressure and Under-Inflated Tires are Dangerous.
4. Failure in Upkeep and Care of the Truck Tires by the Fleet Owner
Owners of the trucks being driven on Chicagoland routes have a duty to keep these vehicles safe while they are in operation. A tire failure on any truck in a fleet may have been the result of an owner not monitoring the condition of each tire on each rig before a trucker gets behind the wheel. While any company that is contracted to maintain the rigs may also be culpable here, the owner still has a legal duty to have safe rigs on the road, and that includes tire safety. See, 49 CFR § 396.3; and read Tires and Fatal Auto Accidents: Duty of Care for Tire Upkeep and Maintenance.
5. Manufacturing or Design Defects in the Tire Product
Recalls of tires as products introduced into the marketplace despite dangerous design or manufacturing flaws happen all the time. Tires may look fine but conceal a safety danger intrinsic in their make-up. If a tire has this type of flaw, a blowout can happen without warning at any time. Accordingly, there are laws mandating recalls by tire makers to get these dangers off the road. See, Ford Trucks: Another Major Tire Recall; CTA Recalls 390,000 Defective Tires.
6. Improper Loading of Cargo
Tires cannot be required to do more than they are designed to do. If a tractor-trailer is loaded with goods that exceed the weight limits of the tires on that truck, then there is a risk of a blowout while in transit. The pressure on the tire may be too great, especially at high speeds. Read, Overweight or Overloaded Semi Truck Accidents: Growing Danger of Fatal Crash.
Claims for Injuries Suffered in Truck Crash Caused by Tire Failure or Blowout
After a semi-truck crash caused by a tire blowout in Chicagoland, both federal regulations and Illinois state law may bring avenues of justice to those who suffered harm in the tire failure accident. More than one party may be liable for their injuries. Both the accident victims and their loved ones may have legal recompense, involving things like medical expenses, lost wages, lost earning capacity, and more.
For more on damages available in a semi-truck tire crash, read: 10 Types of Injury Damages That May Be Awarded to Accident Victims and 10 Types of Workers’ Compensation Benefits After a Work Accident in Illinois or Indiana.
Many commercial truck tire crashes will find legal liability involving the truck driver; the trucking company; the manufacturer of the tire; the designer of the tire; those responsible for repair and maintenance of the vehicle; or cargo loaders. Construction crews who failed to keep lanes clear in a construction zone may be culpable. Supervisors who pushed truckers to keep driving in extreme weather conditions may be responsible.
It is only after a detailed investigation is made by accident analysts with expertise in truck crashes working together with legal advocates that the claimants will be able to confirm all those who have breached legal duties of care and safety, causing damages for which there is legal responsibility.
Things like tire remnants collected at the scene of the accident may give clues to the accident reconstructionist. The truck’s black box can be invaluable (was there a sudden deceleration?). And combing through the crashed vehicles may be enlightening about things like neglectful repair work or defective products. See: Black Box Data in Semi-Truck Crashes: The Importance of EDR Evidence; and Accident Reconstruction Experts and Injury Claims.
Accident victims must be alerted to the time deadline they have for asserting legal claims for damages after a truck tire failure crash, too. Filing claims after this deadline means their recovery will be barred by statute as being filed too late.
For more about truck crashes in Chicago, read:
- Chicago Truck Accidents: Liability after Serious Chicagoland Semi-Truck Crash
- Semi-Truck Crashes in Chicago: Most Dangerous Routes, Riskiest Rigs
- Truck Driver Hurt on the Job: Trucker Injuries in Chicago Semi-Truck Crash
- Liability for Chicago Semi-Truck Crashes Other Than the Trucker or the Carrier
- Why a Lawyer who is a Trial Attorney Is Important for Accident Victims in Personal Injury Cases.
Tire failures put truck drivers and occupants at risk of serious injury as well as others on the roads with them in a truck crash caused by the tire itself. With the huge number of 18-wheelers and semi-trucks driving along Chicagoland routes, this danger is particularly high for everyone on the road. Please be careful out there!
