A family traveling home to Modesto from Northridge became the scene of tragic car crash on Sunday. It was on Highway 99 north of Pond Road where Highway patrol officers say the driver of a white Ford S.U.V. lost his wife, both his parents and his eleven-year-old son on Father's day.
“The driver lost control of the vehicle, and the vehicle went off the roadway and overturned several times,” said Robert Rodriguez of California Highway Patrol. “One of the occupants of the vehicle, the grandmother was thrown from the vehicle and died on the scene.”
CHP officers say the tread of the truck’s back tire blew out. And the car flipped over after the driver tried to over-correct. The CHP has the 2001 Ford from the crash and is doing a full inspection of it for its investigation.
"Being underinflated and with the hot temperatures that we had, could be a recipe for disaster," Rodriguez said.
Brice Horton of Big O Tires in Northwest Bakersfield says drivers shouldn't wait until their tires go bald to replace them.
“Tires are designed to take the heat, but if they get too thin, they can’t dissipate the heat,” said Horton. “The tread design was engineered to work like a fan blade.”
It was 108 degrees on the day of the crash, which was the hottest it has been in Bakersfield in two years. The heat can damage your tires, especially, when the tread is worn.
“Summer time's more critical for it because tires run hotter,” Horton says. “The pressure builds up more inside the tires, their under more of a force, strain inside.”
Tire experts stress that the best way to prevent a tire blowout is to check the tire pressure.
Here are some other tire tips before you hit the road this summer:
Check your tires for bulges and breaks.
Check your tire's tread by using the wear bars.
Rotate your tires every 5,000 to 8,000 miles and buy new tires every 30,000 miles.
Check your tire's temperature, and if it's is too hot to touch, it's under-inflated.
