

Tire pressures play a big factor in accidents


Source: Detroit News

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Observation tells me
By chmilz on 5/15/2012 1:43:14 PM , Rating: 5
People with under-inflated tires are usually at the bottom of the gene pool anyway. Too stupid to notice and/or fill up their tires, and too stupid to be driving.

RE: Observation tells me
By FITCamaro on 5/16/2012 5:41:44 PM , Rating: 5

The worst drivers are usually also the worst at caring for their vehicles.

RE: Observation tells me



RE: Observation tells me


RE: Observation tells me
Vehicle inspections are a complete waste of tax dollars.



RE: Observation tells me
By TheEinstein on 5/19/12, Rating: -1
RE: Observation tells me
By Azethoth on 5/22/12, Rating: 0
RE: Observation tells me
By mindless1 on 5/23/2012 8:08:40 PM , Rating: 3
There are lots of things wrong with the stats as mentioned.

1) 5% of vehicles involved in crashes experiencing tire problems does not equate to tire problems being the CAUSE of 5% of crashes. Tires can easily be damaged during the crash or the attempt to avoid crashing and hitting a curb, etc. "Couldn't stop in time or couldn't swerve around" is not proven to be a fault merely because tires are underinflated, any car, tire, pressure, and road surface has its limits.

2) If only 5% of vehicles experienced tire problems, and tires underinflated by 25% or more were three times as likely to crash, that is not a proof that underinflated tires are three times more likely to crash, it only means underinflated tires are 3 times more likely to crash due to tire problems (within the 5%), which you pointed out and I agree with.

So the article title is wrong, vehicles with underinflated tires aren't even remotely close to being three times more likely to be in an accident, only more likely to be in the 5% of accidents that were tires-as-initial-failure, caused... "IF" that 5% figure is right which I doubt.

I'll make up a number and throw it out there. 98% of crashes are caused by driver inattention or excessive speed for the conditions. If one of the conditions was driver inattention to tire pressure OR driving too fast for the inflation level of your tires, well yeah there's no oversimplified answer like keep your tires inflated more, it's still the driver not the equipment.


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