Call Kurtis Investigates: Dangerous Tires on the Road

NATOMAS (CBS13) — Ever notice how many tire treads litter the road as you drive down the highway.

Natomas woman, Kim Nzibo says the tire that almost ended her life was much older than that.

Sunday afternoon while driving to her mother's house when, "all of a sudden, I hear a pop, a loud boom," said Kim.

She recently purchased used tires for her GMC Denali.

"They had nice tread on them, they were shiny," she said.

However, that afternoon driving full speed down I-5 Kim had a blowout.

"I hear all of this noise.  Bam bam bam bam bam, I'm going from side to side, the driver's side went up. I was on the passenger side on two wheels. I came back down, I was swerving spinning all around," Kim recalls trying to gain control.

She said other cars were swerving to avoid her and when she finally came to a stop, "I get out of my vehicle and then I look and I go oh my God," she said.

Kim's used tire had sliced down the side and shredded almost all the way around. Her S-U-V had blackened scuffmarks, a cracked panel, and a dent in the back.

"I didn't know a tire could actually do that," said Kim.

There are more than 11-thousand tire related crashes in the United States each year, hurting more than 63-hundred people and killing about 195.

American Automobile Association's Pete Peirce says buying used tires is a gamble, because you do not know the tire's history.

"They could lose their life," said Pete.

Some consumer groups have unsuccessfully pushed for tires to expire after six years. The tire and rubber industry has pushed back and uniformly cannot come up with an expiration date.

Pete explanation, "Because there's so much in how that tire was used or how it's stored.  If it's stored in a cool dry environment it'll last longer."

Although he thinks, there should be a ten-year expiration date.

Pete says you can find the age of your tires, by cracking a code on the sidewall.

"This 4 number digit, shows when the tire was produced, It's 33-14 that means it was made the 33rd-week of 2014," said Pete in his demonstration for us.

We pulled the number off the side of Kim's blown out tire and entered it into the Tire Facts app that translates the code. We found that her tires were 9 years and 19 weeks old.

Kim had no idea the used tires she just bought were made that long ago.

"I think it shouldn't be sold…" "You sell me bad tires. I almost killed myself. I could've injured someone," she said.

Kim can't help but feel lucky and will never forget the feeling she got as she lost control going down the highway.

"Please in the name of Jesus, let me be safe, and please don't let me hurt anyone else," she said.

Many car manufacturers say the tires on new cars are only good for 6-years. Presently there is no law imposing and expiration date on tires.

Pete recommends that people keep an eye on spare tires and how they are stored; a hot trunk can deteriorate the rubber quickly.