According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, nearly 100,000 car accidents each year result from tire blowouts. While not all of these can be traced to a defect in the tire, quite a few tires blow out due to manufacturing and design issues.
If you have been injured in a crash involving worn or defective tires, reach out to a car accident lawyer in Nashua, NH for the necessary legal representation to seek full compensation for your losses.
What Does a Tire Do On Your Car?
The tires perform crucial functions on a car and truck, including:
- Bearing the vehicle’s weight
- Providing traction for the vehicle
- Absorbing shocks from the road’s surface
- Transmitting steering forces to the ground
The tires are the only point of contact between the vehicle and the road. A car needs all four of its tires to operate safely. Even a defect in one of these tires can be enough to cause a serious accident.
The Dangers of a Blown-Out Tire
Tire blowouts can result in the following consequences:
- The car can veer off course, and the driver may lose control
- Debris may fly in the vicinity and strike other cars
- The driver may not apply brakes in time to avoid a crash
- The motorist may lose the ability to steer the car
Even the safest and most experienced driver may not pull their car to safety when a tire suddenly blows out. It is often an unexpected happening, and they have only a moment to react, making the exact right moves. In other words, everything must go right in an instant for a driver to avoid a tire blowout accident. The driver must often traverse several traffic lanes to safely pull their car onto the shoulder. They might not steer the car in an orderly fashion or even know the right technique for driving a car with a tire blowout.
Crashes can easily happen following a blowout, whether it is a single-vehicle rollover or a multi-car collision. All parties involved should discuss their rights with a car accident attorney.
Negligent Maintenance Can Cause a Tire Blowout
While defective tires often cause car accidents, other factors may cause a tire blowout. The manufacturer or seller might have sold a perfectly safe and suitable tire, but the car’s owner can be at fault for what happened. In that case, you will seek compensation from the owner because they were the ones who were negligent.
The vehicle’s owner is legally obligated to properly inspect and maintain their car, including the tires. They are in the best position to know about the condition of their vehicle. They must inspect their tires, periodically check the pressure, and make sure they are in proper working order.
Car tires must be replaced either after a certain number of miles or a period of time. The rubber will become worn down the more miles driven on the tires. The treads can disappear, which makes it harder for the vehicle to maintain traction. Over time, the rubber on the tires can degrade. While rubber is durable, it is also not intended to be an everlasting substance. However, many owners may hesitate to replace tires as often as necessary due to the cost. They may try to get as many miles as they can out of the tires before they have to replace them, regardless of the safety.
Before they know it, a tire blows, and a serious accident results. Your car accident lawyer can identify whether negligent maintenance of a vehicle owner was to blame for your crash.
You May Not Have to Prove Negligent Maintenance to Win Your Case
You may not have to prove that the owner failed to conduct regular maintenance to win your car accident case. The fact that the driver lost control of their car or was unable to stop in time to avoid a rear-end car accident might be proof enough of negligence, which can qualify you for compensation. However, obtaining more evidence about how the driver failed to properly maintain their car can help your case if liability is a close call or disputed. Your car accident attorney can use any available evidence to rebut any allegations from the insurance company about your conduct in the circumstances leading to the accident.
To establish negligent maintenance of a vehicle, your car accident lawyer can gather evidence to show the tire’s condition. They may rely on pictures of the vehicles from the scene of the accident or accident reports with images and descriptions. If the other car experienced a tire blowout, one can draw a logical assumption that the driver was to blame for the accident. If there is any suspicion that the other driver failed to properly maintain their car, your car accident attorney can subpoena and obtain maintenance records that show when tires were changed. If the other driver did attempt to maintain their tires, and the tires were the cause of the accident, your car accident lawyer might expand the legal action to include the repair shop or even the tire manufacturer.
Why You Need a Nashua Car Accident Lawyer for Your Tire Blowout Case
Hiring a car accident attorney when you have been injured in a motor vehicle crash is highly important. You can never make any assumptions about who was to blame for the crash or even that someone else was at fault. Your car accident lawyer can determine the responsible parties for your injuries, which is not always the other driver. They will also defend you from any false allegations that you acted carelessly in the circumstances surrounding the crash.
Your car accident attorney will also estimate the damages you have suffered and negotiate with the other driver’s insurance company to obtain full compensation for you. The legal process is not designed to be easy, so you may need to fight for what you deserve. A car accident attorney’s job is to take the fight to the insurance company to pressure them to fully pay you for your injuries.
Seek your free consultation with a personal injury attorney now.