Tire Age and Driving Safety

As recently shown on ABC news, seemingly "new" tires may have been manufactured many years ago. According to the report, if the tires are six or more years old, they present a hazard and should not be purchased. Old but unused tires may experience tread separation, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle and possibly crash or rollover. The way to determine the age of the tire is as follows. A four digit number such as 2207 means the tire was manufactured the 22nd week of 2007.

Tires Degrade Over Time

Tire experts say tires degrade over time. The oils, chemicals, rubber and bonding all start to come apart as time wears on. If a tire is not used, it only speeds up the process, because there are certain chemicals used to protect the tire that are only activated if the tire is in normal use.

"Gradually it's been apparent there was this problem, but the industry nervously looked the other way, because the tire industry is very, very sensitive to anything that involves danger and their products," said Rex Grogan, a tire consultant who formerly worked for British tire maker Dunlop for 33 years.

Grogan supports the time limits set by the British Tyre Industry Council.

Warning Signs Are Not Always Visible

Often, there is no way to determine if there is anything wrong with a tire by simply looking at it. And tires may spend a substantial amount of time in warehouses and distributors before they even reach stores where they are available to consumers.

It's not easy for consumers to determine the age of a tire. It requires the ability to decipher the last three digits of the Department of Transportation number molded into the tire.

The first two digits correspond to the week of the year the tire was made and the third digit corresponds to the last digit in the year it was made. For example, a DOT number ending in 238 would have been produced in the 23rd week of 1998.

Michael Rotondo from Massachusetts just bought a 1993 Isuzu and was shocked to discover that his spare tire was 11 years old. "I think after work today I'm going to stop by the place I bought it and ask them for a new tire," Rotondo told ABCNEWS.

U.S. Manufacturers' Group

The Rubber Manufacturer's Association, which represents U.S. tire makers, is not ready to take the same steps as their counterpart in England. Spokesman Dan Zielinski said: "Tires do vary from company to company and from tires within a company themselves, so it's hard just to pinpoint one particular tire age limit for every tire." He also expressed concern about the idea of expiration dates, stating that an expiration date could give consumers the belief that they could treat a tire in any manner they chose without regard to proper tire safety until the expiration date hit.