DETROIT (AP) — Many tractor-trailers on the nation's roads are driven faster than the 75 mph their tires are designed to handle, a practice that has been linked to wrecks and blowouts but has largely escaped the attention of highway officials. Safety advocates and tire experts say that habitually driving faster than a tire's rated speed can generate excessive heat that damages the rubber, with potentially catastrophic results. The disconnect between highway speed limits and safety standards was discovered by The Associated Press in a government document that detailed an investigation into truck tire failures. Last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration closed the investigation into blowouts involving certain Michelin tires after determining that truck operators, not the tires, were at fault. States set their own speed limits, having been given sole authority to do so by Congress in the mid-1990s, while the federal government, through NHTSA, has authority to raise tire standards. Ever since Firestone tires started failing on Ford Explorers in the 1990s, the government has required car and light truck tires to be designed for well above highway speed limits. In Wyoming, which raised speeds on some rural highways to 80 mph last July, "it doesn't look like necessarily there was any consideration of truck tire speed ratings," said Bruce Burrows, a spokesman for the state Transportation Department. Along Texas Highway 130, which has an 85 mph speed limit for big rigs, driver David Ortiz said he didn't know about the 75 mph rating for most truck tires, or how fast his tires were designed to go. To make sure drivers know their tires' limits, NHTSA is considering a requirement that maximum speeds be listed on the sidewalls of all truck tires.
Ap Exclusive: Big Rigs Often Go Faster Than Tires Can Handle
By TOM KRISHER, AP Auto Writer, San Antonio Express-News: Business
Tue, 03/31/2015 - 12:56am
Topics: detroit ap many associated press national highway traffic safety administration michelin states firestone ford explorers in wyoming july bruce burrows transportation department along texas highway david ortiz safety to faster tires handle big rigs truck speed mph limits government designed authority nhtsa speeds blowouts investigation standards
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