Most of you don't know if your tires are safe

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Story Published: Nov 25, 2009 at 8:48 AM PST

By KOMO Staff

SEATTLE -- You wouldn't go hiking through the snow in heels or dress flats would you? Then why are so many people driving through rain and snow on bald tires?

That's what a new survey asked, and it found 64 percent of drivers don't know how to check to see if their tires are safe.

The Rubber Manufacturers Association found that out of 7,000 cars, 11 percent had at least one bald tire. That means of the 33.2 million drivers expected this Thanksgiving, 4 million could be driving on unsafe tires.

"It not only can endanger the folks driving the car with the worn out tires, but all the surrounding cars and even pedestrians," said Greg Ihommedieu with Les Schwab tire.

He says to check your tires, take an upside down penny and put it in your tire tread. Test several spots. If you can see all of Lincoln's head anywhere, it's time for a new tire.

Or, you can look at the tire's wear bars.

"When the tread wears down where these are level with the tread, that's also an indicator that it's time to take the tire out of service," he said.

The survey also found only 9 percent of cars tested had four properly inflated tires.

Ihommedieu says check your owner's manual or door placard for proper tire pressure, make sure there's a valve cap, use an air gauge to measure and measure when your tires are cold.

"It's kind of like when you have a basketball in your yard and it starts freezing out -- the basketball is flat and at noon it's aired up," he said. "You're tires will do the same thing."

The best suggestions are to check tire pressure once a month -- most tire stores will do that and check your tread for free. And have your tires rotated about every 5,000 miles. A properly-maintained tire can last up to 80,000 miles.

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