How often do you check your tires before you get into your car to drive away? Every year, there are millions of accidents, a lot of which are caused by unsafe tires on vehicles. The Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) reminds everyone to play a “PART” in making sure that their tires are safe by checking the following:

• Pressure- One of the leading cause in tire wear are having underinflated tires. Having underinflated tires can cause unnecessary wear and tear on your tire, which could result in a tire blowout, which could cause an accident. And trust me, you don’t want that to happen when your driving 70 miles an hour down a highway! Always check your tire pressure before long trips to make sure it is filled up to factory standards for that particular vehicle. Even if your tire appears to be inflated, it could still be underinflated, so check!
• Alignment- If you feel your vehicle pulling strongly towards one side, have your car brought into a reputable automotive shop to make sure your alignment is ok. Relatively minor things, such as hitting a curb the wrong way can throw off your alignment, which can be dangerous while driving. Having an alignment that is thrown off can cause improper wear on your tires, which is never good.
• Rotation- Always make sure that you have your tires rotated to prevent wearing out the tires. Usually, when you have your tires rotated, the shop should offer to do your alignment as well (since it will need to be done anyway).
• Tread- Make sure that you check the tread on your tires periodically. Most, if not all, tires are manufactured so that when they wear down enough, you should see some sort of indication of this in the form of a white line or other colored line where the tread used to be. You can also do the “penny test” by taking a penny and putting it in the tread groove. If part of Lincoln’s head is covered by tread, your tread is fine. If you can see all of his head, then you need a new tire. Tires should be replaced when the tread is worn down to 2/32 of an inch in order to prevent skidding and/or hydroplaning on roads.

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Tags: Driving, Saftey //