\
DRIVERS have been urged to check a crucial tire age sign that shows whether they need a new set before driving in snow – even if the old ones still have tread.
Motorists could be putting themselves in danger with ageing rubber without even realising, according to experts.
1
Snow is set to blanket large swathes of the nation in the coming week as temperatures hit the skids.
Forecasters at the National Weather Service are predicting freezing conditions, with lows of -6F along the Canadian border.
While it may add to the festive aesthetic during the holiday period, it presents plenty of issues for road users.
Ice, snow and low visibility are all features of this time of year on America’s highways.
Most people in colder parts of the nation are more than used to driving in snow and are responsible in switching to winter tires.
But motoring experts have warned that the set of snow tires hanging around in your garage could actually be less safe than you think.
Layne Vandersee of Mt. Vernon road tire in Cedar Rapids, IA, explained that, if you’ve had your tires for a while, they could be coming to the end of their lives.
He told KCRG: “Generally every five to six years you should be changing tires out.
“Rubber just gets older.
“The older it gets, the rubber gets brittle.
“So even if you have some tread-ware left of the tires, the rubber will fall apart on you.”
This is even more exaggerated in cold conditions as the freezing temperatures cause the rubber to stiffen even more.
If your tires are on their last legs and are hit with a chilly blast, it could easily result in a catastrophic loss of grip.
Fortunately, you can easily check the age of your tires just by looking at them.
All tires sold in the US have a Department of Transportation code stamped on them.
This will begin with the letters DOT to show it has met the department’s safety standards.
The last four digits of the code then show the week and year of manufacture.
For example, if it reads 1720, that means the tire was produced in the 17th week of 2020.
Unless the tire has never been used before you should replace it after about five years, and even if it hasn’t you should be cautious about going much beyond that.
However, if you’re current tires are still in date, there’s an easy trick you can use to check the tread depth.
Simply take a penny and place it in one of the tread slots to check if you can still see President Lincoln.
Layne went on: “On this tire, I can pretty much see Abe’s head, his whole body, definitely need to get this tire replaced.
“Compared to a new tire, I can just see the very top of Abe’s head there, that’s what we want to aim for.”
