By William Coleman
Safety is the number one priority for every leisure vehicle owner. We spend a lot of time on the road covering a lot of miles in hour touring homes and the last thing that you want is a tire blowing out on you while you’re doing a good speed on a motorway or A road.
Over in the States, and possibly here some time soon, a US safety regulator are launching an investigation into whether Goodyear’s motorhome tires can fail while in use and cause accidents, collisions, crashes and possibly fatalities.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have begun a probe into Goodyear after a court ordered the release of Goodyear date from lawsuits, which were previously sealed under court orders which were settled with confidential agreements.
Once the date was opened it revealed that the G159 tires had failed while being used which had lead to injuries and deaths. The document was posted on January 1st, not the best start to the new year for Goodyear, say that a lot of claims against the company could be caused by a safety defect on the tires.
The agency who are launching the investigation have received 10 consumer complaints that are allegedly linked to two crash incidents. The document also reveals that Goodyear had reported 9 claims to the agency that had involved 1 death and 13 injuries.
This investigation covers around 40,000 tires from 1996-2003. It is not clear if these tyres are limited to US distribution so if you have Goodyear tyres it may be worth checking your tyres if you have purchased them between 96-03.
Always make sure that you do your checks before and after your winter storage. Even of you are continuing to use your touring home throughout the winter keep checking, especially the tires. God forbid they cause an issue or the police deem them unfit and issue fines and points.
