Young drivers and families on a budget try to extend the life of various expensive items to maximize their finances. However, old, or bald tires may not be worth the effort.
Simply put, bald tires are not safe. A car with bald tires may not break down after driving hundreds of miles on the highway; however, bald tires can cause a lack of control, hydroplaning, blow-outs, and understeering. Bald tires in wet weather also increase stopping distances.
When the treads on a tire are getting worn down, an automobile or other motor vehicle can become dangerous. The vehicle will not be able to brake as easily while driving in rain, snow, and hydroplaning can happen rapidly when treads are low. In Florida, cars can be inspected and will not pass the inspection with bad tires. The tires will need to be replaced before the car can be tagged and get a pass on inspection.
An additional consideration in Florida is that summertime type heat(year-round) can multiply your risk, primarily due to rubber wearing off more quickly when the weather is hot. Consequently, when a tire is bald in the summer or warm-hot weather, it can create dangerous situations such as unexpected blow-outs, leading to the possibility of a roll-over accidents, which are some of the most dangerous collisions on the road. Florida drivers can avoid blow-out tires by maintaining their tires and not driving on tires that are bald. In many cases, bald tires are the result of faulty alignment, which causes the tire not to wear evenly. The outer and inner edges of the tire can wear out before the rest of the tire leading to the tire becoming worn out prematurely. Weather cracking can also cause issues as can the tire’s air pressure.
Furthermore, worn tires can run over debris on the roadway and get punctured, causing a tire failure, which may otherwise not happen on tires with more tread.
According to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Crash Causation Survey, tire related problems are responsible for nine (9%) percent of all accidents. These incidents could include tread separations, blow-outs, bald tires, and under-inflation.
Under Florida law, the minimum tread depth in the state is 1/16 or 2/32 of an inch. To informally measure-if you insert a penny into tread grooves across the tire and most of the Lincoln’s head is out, it needs replacing. The official method of measuring is a gauge, which can read the remaining tread depth.
There appears to be no specific Federal laws dealing with tread depth, but forty-two(42) states and Canada, do have regulations. They consider 2/32 of an inch to be the minimum legal tread depth. Two(2) other states, including California, consider one-thirty second to be the minimum. Six(6) states have no standards. HOWEVER, since 1968, Federal law has required a raised bar(i.e., wear bar) be molded across all tires. When tires are worn enough, then this bar becomes visible and indicates there’s just 2/32 of an inch of tread remaining. In fact, all tires sold and manufactured in North America are required to have this tread depth indicator called wear bars. Again, they run underneath the rubber and become visible when tires have worn down to the legal limit. This bar makes it easier to know when tires have worn out-then, it is time for a new tire or tires. At such time, the same should be replaced immediately!
Further, tires are considered legally worn out in most states when the tread depth is less than 2/32 of an inch. Driving on tires with tread worn down this far is dangerous and could even get a Florida driver a ticket, and again, one can informally measure with a penny to see if any part of Lincoln’s head is covered, the tread depth is still adequate.
Drivers can drive on bald tires for as long as they feel comfortable while probably risking their lives. Technically, a driver could conceivably drive on bald tires until they burst on the freeway, but NO responsible person would endorse it.
Worn out tires can also develop bulges and blisters that create weak spots on their surfaces. These can increase the chances of a sudden blowout, and can also lead to skidding, hydroplaning, or losing control of your car by reducing the tire’s ability to grip the road.
Simply put, balding tires are tires that have minimal or no tread left. A tire’s tread wears down with each mile driven, and there are various factors that can affect how quickly it wears out. Knowledgeable drivers should be proactive in tire care and can prevent the risk of driving on bald tires.
Bald tires will cause a steering wheel to vibrate and a car to shake. Furthermore, if a Floridian continues driving on bald tires, those tires are likely to blow-out, and having a tire blow-out at highway speeds is extremely dangerous, especially if it is a front tire.
Florida Statute Section 316.610 covers the safety of a vehicle, including tires.
Tires are the only part of a motor vehicle that touch the roadway and should be carefully maintained. Having proper tread on vehicle tires is what allows drivers to safely travel, especially in wet weather,
From a practical standpoint, it may be very difficult for a law enforcement officer to see if your tires are bald while traveling, but if a motor vehicle is stopped, a police officer can make the observation and issue a citation or ticket based on his or her own professional judgement.
The aforesaid Florida Statute is as follows:
“316.610 Safety of vehicle; inspection.—It is a violation of this chapter for any person to drive or move, or for the owner or his or her duly authorized representative to cause or knowingly permit to be driven or moved, on any highway any vehicle or combination of vehicles which is in such unsafe condition as to endanger any person or property, or which does not contain those parts or is not at all times equipped with such lamps and other equipment in proper condition and adjustment as required in this chapter, or which is equipped in any manner in violation of this chapter, or for any person to do any act forbidden or fail to perform any act required under this chapter.
(1) Any police officer may at any time, upon reasonable cause to believe that a vehicle is unsafe or not equipped as required by law, or that its equipment is not in proper adjustment or repair, require the driver of the vehicle to stop and submit the vehicle to an inspection and such test with reference thereto as may be appropriate.
(2) In the event the vehicle is found to be in unsafe condition or any required part or equipment is not present or is not in proper repair and adjustment, and the continued operation would probably present an unduly hazardous operating condition, the officer may require the vehicle to be immediately repaired or removed from use. However, if continuous operation would not present unduly hazardous operating conditions, that is, in the case of equipment defects such as tailpipes, mufflers, windshield wipers, marginally worn tires, the officer shall give written notice to require proper repair and adjustment of same within 48 hours, excluding Sunday.” [emphasis added].
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles recommends the following: “Tires are your vehicle’s first line of defense on the road. With proper care and maintenance, they will keep you safely motoring along Florida’s highways and help you and your loved ones ‘ARRIVE ALIVE’.”
Florida and many other states have rules, regulations or laws concerning tires. Police in this state can stop and pull a diver over for driving a motor vehicle with old and/or worn-out tires. It is concerning that many Florida motorists are somehow unaware of the laws pertaining to as well as the risks involved with driving on unsafe tires and –YES-even be ticketed for it!