Tire Tread Depth Safety

Maintaining a vigilant attitude toward the tread depth of your tires can prevent blowouts, flat tires and accidents. You should inspect your tires regularly and measure the treads to see if they are becoming too low, indicating a need for immediate replacement.

Tread Depth

  • Tires become dangerous when the tread depth reaches a certain point. A new tire has 10/32-inch tread depth, and tires become bald when at least one or more grooves are 2/32-inch deep. "Consumer Reports" recommends that you buy new tires if yours reach a measurement of 4/32-inch deep.

    A newer tire has the correct tread depth.
    A newer tire has the correct tread depth.

Inspecting Your Tires

  • You can tell if your tires are getting bald by watching for the appearance of a set of horizontal bars, a safety feature included for your convenience. "Consumer Reports" recommends that you buy new tires if yours reach a measurement of 4/32-inch. It is a good idea to walk around your vehicle at least once a week and examine your tires.

Measuring Tread Depth

  • A penny or a tread-depth gauge can be used to measure tread. The gauge gives you an exact measurement and is often used by mechanics. For your own easy measuring, you can insert a penny upside-down with the head facing you. On new tires, you won't see the head. As grooves get lower with wear, more of the head will show.

Dangers of Tread Depth

  • If your tires are getting bald, they will be more likely to hydroplane on a wet road. The shallow treads allow more water from the road to stay under the tire, which makes an ideal surface for hydroplaning. This is also a hazard when driving in winter weather, as bald tires have less grip on snow.

Considerations

  • When inspecting tread depth, also look for others flaws that might cause problems. You can reduce accidents from low tread by slowing down and staying the appropriate number of car lengths back. This is good driving protocol even with new tires, but is especially important when your tires are worn.