Where do all those shredded pieces of tire you see along the highway come from?

Question

Isn't it dangerous when they fly off?

Answer 1

Tractor trailers. They have a lot of wheels, and when one goes flat the driver has no way of knowing, so it ends up becoming completely shredded and falling off.

Most are steel radials, so yeah, they can mangle up your car pretty good.

Answer 2

Those pieces of tire are the remanants of a flat or blown out tire. It can happen to any driver, but can be mostly prevented with good maintainance practices (proper air pressures, good alignment, tread, etc.). They are dangerous when they fly off because they are moving at the speed of the vehicle it comes off of. It causes accidents or does damage when someone is avoiding the pieces or attempting to get control after it happens.

A blown or flat tire either on yours or nearby vehicle is scary. Had a 4 wheeler blow a tire almost in front of me going down Cajon Pass in CA. The remanants just grazed the side of my semi, but no damage was done. Was worried more about the person crashing trying to make it to the shoulder than anything else.

Answer 3

Sometimes they come from passenger cars and passenger trucks.

More often than not, they come from semi trucks. As a professional driver, I have had my fair share of tire blow outs. Recapped or retread tires are only legal to use on trailers and NEVER on steering tires or drive axles. Most blow outs occur when tire pressure is lower in one tire and the tire next to it is subjected to more heat and friction as it has to work harder to provide more stability and suspension.

If tire pressure is not the culprit, normal wear can create the blow out situation. Often times, its just a lack of good house keeping at truck stops and warehouses.... I find loads of broken nails, screws and other small metal debris around various truck stops and warehouses on the routes that I run.

Having had as many as 4 tires blow out at the same time, I can say that we can certainly HEAR and FEEL it when it does happen. The reasons as to why we don't stop are because we need to focus on SAFELY getting off the roadway and into a rest stop or onto the shoulder without causing another accident. I wouldn't run out onto the highway to pick up the tire since it is a good way to get killed in many areas and #2 that rubber is EXTREMELY hot when it does rupture.

Hope this sheds some light on your question and helps answer it.

Answer 4

My parents have been driving trucks since I was in Kindergarten. I rode with my mom one summer. I noticed her looking in her mirrors a lot, so I asked her what she was doing. her answer? "waiting for this tire to go, so I can stop." sure enough, at midnight, crossing the Oklahoma state line, the inside trailer tire blew out, and pieces were everywhere. the tire was not a re-tread, it is illegal for truckers to use them on the cabs any more, although some companies still use them on the trailers. the tires on those trucks are very dangerous, with the truck weighing in at 40 tons and each tire having 100PSI, when they go, they go. on that same trip, I watched, in the mirror on my side, as the truck that was behind us had a blow out. it cut a beautiful 1995 Mustang convertible in half, and not cleanly either.

safest place around a truck? 4 car lengths behind and 6 car lengths ahead.

Answer 5

Mostly from tractor trailer combination vehicles. With 18 wheels turning over 1000's of miles, the heat wears the tread and they eventually wear down and shred. The drivers hardly notice since there are duals for most axles. Is it dangerous? It can be if you are behind a truck when it shreds...the debris can fly off and hit your car.

Answer 6

it's usually when a big rig has a tire that blows out and the tire shreds and flies everywhere. the driver usually doesn't run into the freeway and try and pick up all the pieces because he could get hit by an oncoming vehicle

Answer 7

As I am a highway warrior because of my job I can tell you 100% that they come from tractor trailers. Alot of the time the tires on a tractor trailer have layers of rubber on them and as they get worn you will see a layer come right off the truck. It is extremely dangerous when they fly off. I have seen them hit windshields and break them.

Answer 8

A van in front of me, on the freeway, ran over a big piece of tire tread and flung it into my car. It damaged the undercarriage, messed up the hood, broke my headlight and ended up costing me $2200 to repair.

Do yourself a favor, keep enough room between you and the car in front of you to see ahead and swerve around these pieces of tread. I found out the hard way...

Answer 9

almost all that you see comes from 18 wheelers..when they have a flat the tire usually comes apart and flies onto the road...yes it is very dangerous when it flies off , it can smash a windshield or put a big dent on your car....

Answer 10

Most semi-tractor trailers use 're-treaded' tires to save money. These are less expensive and are glued on treads. After being used for X amount of miles, the glued on tread will unravel and you have shreds of tires laying on the road.