Tire Discounters Honoring Tire Safety Week with a Challenge to Other Tire Retailers

This entry was posted on May 21, 2019 by Tire Discounters.

To celebrate Tire Safety Week (May 20-27), Jamie Ward, President at Tire Discounters and Ohio Tire & Automotive Association (OTAA) Board Member is looking to partner with other tire & automotive retailers.  Ward has worked with the OTAA (Ohio Tire & Automotive Association) for several years to help influence the removal of unsafe tires from roads. Because of their efforts, on July 1, 2019 an Ohio bill prohibiting the installation of unsafe used tires will go into effect. It defines unsafe as anything under 2/32-inch tread depth. “This bill will prevent countless injuries and fatalities caused by unsafe tires, other states should follow Ohio’s lead to prohibit the sale and installation of unsafe used tires and I invite all tire retailers to support this cause” says Jamie Ward, Tire Discounters President.  Joe Flynn, President of OTAA adds “The OTAA was successful in working with the Ohio legislature because we had tremendous support from our retail partners. To further our mission to remove unsafe used tires from the nation’s roads we need more retailers to lead the charge in their home states”. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that tires at 2/32” are three times more likely to be involved in a crash than tires with sufficient tread depth. NHTSA crash statistics indicate that about 200 fatalities and 6,000 injuries are attributed to tire-related causes annually.   “I recognize that there is a market for used tires, however, there’s a line that should be drawn to distinguish good used tires vs. used tires that are unsafe. We successfully drew that line with law in Ohio and we need to join as an industry to replicate similar legislation across the country,” adds Ward.