If you have ever driven through or around Maryland, you may notice that there is quite a bit of debris on the roadway. Sometimes, that debris will take the form of a large, strange-looking piece of rubber in the middle or side of the road. If this kind of debris sneaks up on you unexpectedly, you may even need to take evasive action and swerve out of the way. It may seem a little nebulous, but these large miscellaneous pieces of rubber are actually the leftovers of popped, broken, and exploded truck tires that are left on the highway.
Naturally, you may be wondering how so many exploded truck tires end up – and stay – on Maryland’s highways. There are a couple of different reasons why bits of truck tire end up on the highway. First, truck tires start to lose large chunks of rubber after lots of use, so a truck may lose a bit of its tire and not even know it. Second, the tire may have popped or exploded. In those cases, there is a good chance that a truck accident took place as a result.
If you were injured because of an exploded truck tire, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291 for a free case review from our Maryland truck accident attorneys.
What Causes Truck Tires to Explode and Become Debris in Maryland?
There are a lot of different reasons that truck tires can pop, explode, or otherwise come loose and end up strewn about the highway. Part of this is due to how modern truck tires are made. A tire is more than a shaped piece of rubber inflated to a high pressure. In fact, most tires are made of layers of rubber. Most of the time, this is a good thing because it means one small puncture or break in the tire does not render the whole thing useless. However, when the structural integrity of a tire is compromised, it can lead to rubber debris on the highway. We’ll go into some of the ways that bits of tire end up on Maryland highways in this section below.
Overuse
Perhaps the most common reason for truck tires to fail, break, and end up on the highway is that they are simply used beyond their intended life cycle. As tires get used and wear out, their structural integrity gets worse. They will lose their tread and grip, and the layers of rubber will heat up and the glue between the layers will wear down, causing the layers of tire to split apart and “shed” all over the road. In addition to becoming an increasing risk for an accident due to lack of traction, it also becomes more likely that large bits and pieces of the tire will be removed from the tire.
If a tire is overused in the extreme, the chance becomes higher that it will just pop outright, which can cause the truck unfortunate enough to be attached to the tire to move uncontrollably and get in a nasty accident.
Other Road Debris and Conditions
A tire can also pop or otherwise break because of poor road conditions. A particularly nasty pothole, a sharp object, or an unexpected bump or curb may so compromise a tire’s structural integrity that bits of it come off or the whole tire fails and pops.
Under and Overpressure
Tires are designed and rated to be filled with a certain amount of air. There are reasons for this, ranging from durability to mileage and beyond. Accordingly, it is important that truck tires be filled with the correct amount of air.
A tire that does not have enough air may not provide enough support to the vehicle to the point where it may be driving as if it has a flat tire. When this happens, the layers are flattened more and take on more heat than they are supposed to, increasing the chance the tire will shed. Conversely, a tire with too much air in it will be much more likely to pop or break under circumstances where a properly inflated tire would not.
Can You Sue Trucking Companies for Accidents Caused by Popped Tires in Maryland?
While it ultimately will depend on the circumstances of your particular accident, in many cases, our Baltimore truck accident attorneys will be able to sue trucking companies for accidents caused by tire debris or malfunctioning truck tires. However, it may be a better idea to sue the driver or another party altogether.
Accidents Caused by Popped Tires
If a truck tire pops and causes an accident, you will very likely be able to sue the driver and their trucking company. Truckers and trucking companies are supposed to make sure that their truck’s tires are in tip-top shape. This usually means replacing worn-out tires and carefully managing retreaded ones. For example, if a truck tire suddenly pops, sending a truck out of control and causing an accident, you can probably sue both the driver and the company that employs them. On the other hand, sometimes the trucker is not responsible for the maintenance of their vehicles. In those cases, they may be just as surprised as you are, and it may be better to sue the trucking company alone.
Accidents Caused by Tire Debris
If an accident was caused by tire debris strewn about the road, things may get trickier. First, it is not easy to tell exactly what truck or trucking company the shredded tire belonged to unless you saw the tire come off the truck. In these circumstances, you may be interacting with insurance companies instead of trucking companies. Of course, our truck accident lawyers can help you with that, too.
Additionally, it is often the responsibility of a state or local entity to make sure roads are kept clean and safe. They could be liable for your injuries if they did not go about ensuring roads were free of debris like discarded truck tires.
Speak to Our Maryland Truck Accident Attorneys Now
Rice, Murtha & Psoras’s Olney, MD truck accident lawyers can help you with your case when you call us at (410) 694-7291.