A STUDY OF RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TIRE TREAD DEPTH AND THE LIKELIHOOD OF ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT. LEVEL 1 REPORT

THE PRINCIPLE OBJECTIVES BASED ON 2,717 ACCIDENTS, WERE TO DETERMINE IF AND HOW TIRE WEAR AFFECTS THE ODDS FOR ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT AND WHAT TREAD DEPTH, IF ANY, SHOULD BE EMPLOYED AS A LEGAL MINIMUM ON THE BASIS OF ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS. A SECONDARY OBJECTIVE WAS TO DETERMINE WHAT PORTION OF ACCIDENT EXPERIENCE AND ASSOCIATED COSTS IS RELATED TO TIRE FAILURE. CONCLUSIONS ARE THAT AN INVERSE RELATIONSHIP DOES EXIST BETWEEN TIRE TREAD DEPTH AND THE LIKELIHOOD OF ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT, AND THAT A LEGAL MINIMUM TREAD DEPTH IS DESIRABLE. FURTHERMORE, THE STUDY IDENTIFIES 4/32" AS THE VALUE MOST APPROPRIATE FOR THIS PURPOSE. THE INVERSE RELATIONSHIP AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ALSO SHOW THE BENEFITS TO BE DERIVED FROM MORE INTENSIVE ENFORCEMENT OF LEGAL MINIMUM TREAD DEPTH REQUIREMENTS. /HSL/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • 32 Pp, 3 ReF
• Corporate Authors:

  Highway Safety Foundation

  Mansfield, OH  United States 
• Publication Date: 1971-3

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crashes; Economic analysis; Tire treads; Tires; Wear
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00221474
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Literature
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 7 1972 12:00AM