What’s up with the spare tire on your vehicle?
You’d be surprised at how many calls I get about loose tires, tires flying off of vehicles, car crashes caused because of issues with tires in general. A hard lesson sometimes learned is that the two most important safety features on any vehicle are the tires and the brakes. This week I had one of the radio DJ’s who interviews me on their radio show have something happen to him personally.
Glenn in Watertown:
“I have a vehicle. In fact, I have to bring it back today because it’s a lease. But innocently, Joe, I was driving into our own driveway right here at 134 Mullin Street, and I heard a thump. I started dragging something, little did I know… First of all, it was the first time I ever knew, after having the car for over two years, that it had a spare tire beneath the carriage of the car. But as I got into the driveway, I noticed I’m actually dragging my spare tire. Joe, I have no idea, but you know the butterfly wheel that you spin … almost a wingnut, I guess. The stress, apparently Joe, had broken free and the wires from that came free, and when I jostled … coming into the driveway, my spare tire came out of the underneath of my car. Have you ever heard of anything like that before?”
JOE KNOWS:
Actually, I’ve had cases in the past, if you remember there were some cars that had the spares on the back, I think they were the old Broncos and some other ones.
Those have fallen off and caused issues. I’ve actually had people who have had problems with what Glenn’s talking about because they can’t get them off, because they rust and whatever, and they’re impossible to even use. Because if you don’t ever need them, and then all of a sudden when you do, you need a hammer and a chisel to even try and get the screws to even move.
In this case Glenn’s car is a 2016! That’s a horrible design. I didn’t think they did that anymore. If that tire falls off when you’re driving at 65 miles per hour, people behind you probably aren’t going to do well.
Glenn:
“Even if it was on Arsenal Street, I mean … The one thing is the sleeve was on the backend, so the way they had it, it would’ve fallen … It would’ve been kind of weird, but still. It was bad enough where it slipped out of there for no reason. And again, I didn’t even know it was there. But again, a car, so many things can go wrong and they’ve advanced so well. It’s a foreign car, by the way, it’s got a good standing and so forth as far as safety and all. But I thought that was very, very strange. Considering yes, a very good question Joe, how young the car is, for a lack of a better way of putting it. That should not of happened. It just looked like a lot of stress that was on the actual spindle that was holding it in.”
Repair Shops
I’ve had problems with people putting tires on my car, they didn’t even put my regular tires on right. They don’t put the bolts on correctly and if those aren’t put on right, of course you can break those off easily. If you have your car serviced, always double check the work to the degree you can. Sometimes the lug nuts come with spacers. Most of the time they don’t put the spacers on or they just don’t tighten them right. They don’t tighten them up enough. They’re in a hurry or they’re not paying attention, or they don’t know what they’re doing. You’re right. If you’re paying attention in the slightest, you don’t let a car go out of there until you know it’s on tight and it’s balanced. Everything is computerized these days, yet we’re talking about fundamental mistakes that could lead to disaster.
Surprisingly, flying tires is more frequent in causing car crashes than you might realize. Here at Stanley Law Offices, we’ve had three cases in the past three years where people have went to repair places, and the tires weren’t put on properly, and the tires fell off. Fortunately, none of them were at high speeds. They were all in city traffic, but still, the people got hurt. You’re gonna get hurt if your tire comes flying off, and then if it hits somebody … We just had a family that had a terrible tragedy with something flying off a truck, and it went through the windshield. I think a mother got killed or really badly injured and a young kid got really badly injured. It was down in Pennsylvania, they were traveling home from vacation and I’m trying to even remember. But terrible.
Not all car designs are created equally.
I just had someone call me about an issue with a recalled door that didn’t close properly on a car they had, and they ended up falling out of the car before they knew about the recall. They got trapped under their own car. Scary stuff. That was similar to that actor a couple of years ago that got crushed by his own vehicle, when he was trying to open up a gate and the car ran over him. Remember that? He was an actor.
We’re not here to just give out bad news, we are here to be sure you are aware and an advocate for your own safety and well-being and that of your family’s. As your trusted Syracuse auto accident attorney, we are dedicated to protecting your rights and helping you navigate the legal process. Be proactive with your own vehicle.
Have any legal questions? You can visit our website, StanleyLawOffices.com, call any one of our offices in Syracuse, Rochester, Binghamton, Watertown and Montrose, PA at 1-800-608-3333. You can also email directly at Joe@StanleyLawOffices.com. There for you.
