# Don't failed retreads cause accidents/fatalities?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-failed-retreads-cause-accidents-fatalities/194524>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 12, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-failed-retreads-cause-accidents-fatalities/194524 "2003-08-12T00:16:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-failed-retreads-cause-accidents-fatalities/194524/1 "2003-08-12T00:16:08Z")

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There’s a thread [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=194404&highlight=retread) about flats on tractor trailers that mentions the failed retread issue several times. No mention is made, however, of the hazard that the failed retreads may pose. These things are large sheets of rubber sometimes lying right in the middle of the highway. And if you’re ever right behind a truck with a tire failure…

Read this [link](http://www.gweep.net/~vanguard/crash.txt) for a dramatic anecdote of a near-death retread experience.

So are all/most/some of the evicerated tire sheets lying around the freeways due to failed retreads? Would a non-retreaded tire fail in a similar manner? Are there any estimates of accidents/fatalities due to retreads?

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**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-failed-retreads-cause-accidents-fatalities/194524/2 "2003-08-12T00:32:01Z")

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Here’s some reading: [http://www.retread.org/rubber/](http://www.retread.org/rubber/)

That’s _not_ an impartial site. A qqquick search didn’t easily find stats.

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**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-failed-retreads-cause-accidents-fatalities/194524/3 "2003-08-12T00:37:51Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Ringo \*  
> \*\*Here’s some reading: [http://www.retread.org/rubber/](http://www.retread.org/rubber/)
> 
> That’s _not_ an impartial site. A qqquick search didn’t easily find stats. \*\*

Yeah, nice site. Do they have a congressional lobby as well?