Defective tires are dangerous. Tread separation and other tire defects can result from design error or manufacturing defects. When faulty tires suddenly lose their tread or explode (blow out), this event can cause the driver not only to lose control of the vehicle but also be unable to regain control, resulting in a deadly collision or accident.

Tire tread separation is particularly dangerous for owners of SUVs and vans because these vehicles have a higher center of gravity than passenger cars. This higher center of gravity can lead to deadly rollover accidents when a tire unexpectedly blows out. Blowouts can occur long before the tire tread is worn out. That can happen if the tire has minute cracks. They quickly lead to larger cracks that develop between the belts, causing premature tire fatigue and tread failure.

In late June 2009, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that Bridgestone recalled 127,000 Firestone tires sold in 2007 and 2008 -- nearly doubling an earlier recall of tires from the same line.

NHTSA reports that in recent years tens of millions of flawed tires have been recalled. Firestone's Wilderness AT tires were recalled because they did not have proper adhesion between the steel belts and the surrounding rubber. This defect was caused by Firestone’s failure to utilize gum edge strips, nylon overlays or caps, or other safeguards to reduce the hazard of tread belt separation. Cooper Tire, Goodyear, Uniroyal, Dunlop and Foreign Tire Sales, Inc., and an importer of Chinese tires under the brand names Westlake, Telluride, Compass and YKS have all issued recalls for some of their tire models.

Tire manufactures are legally responsible for automobile wrecks that are caused by faulty tires. For over thirty years The Fitzgerald Law Firm has successfully brought product liability cases against many tire manufactures on behalf of their seriously injured clients and these clients’ family members who were killed in automobile accidents.