NTSB links fatal crash to poorly maintained tire

A recent National Transportation Safety Board report on tire-related crashes investigated a February 2014 Centerville wreck in which four people were killed after a 10-year-old tire on a midsize sport utility vehicle failed, and the SUV then collided head-on with a school bus.
The Feb. 15, 2014, crash on U.S. 90 in Centerville killed LaDonna Cheatham, 36, of Patterson, Destiny Cheatham, 6, Marcus Cheatham, 16, and Dwayne Escort, 14. All four were ejected from a 2004 Kia Sorrento and were pronounced dead at the scene by the St. Mary Parish coroner, state police said.
Another occupant in Cheatham’s vehicle, Mark Cheatham, 17, was restrained and was airlifted to an area hospital with injuries, police said.
The tire that failed on the SUV was over 10 years old and poorly maintained, the study said.
At about 11:30 a.m. on that date, a school bus carrying 34 members of the Lafayette High School baseball team was traveling eastbound on U.S. 90 near Centerville. The SUV was traveling west on U.S. 90 in the right lane at a witness-estimated speed of 70 mph, the report said.
The SUV’s left rear tire experienced a complete tread separation and rapid air loss. The SUV veered into the left westbound lane, rotating in a counterclockwise direction, and departed the roadway into a depressed grassy median area, the report said.
After passing through the median, the SUV crossed the left lane of eastbound traffic and collided with the school bus, which was traveling in the right eastbound traffic lane, the report said.
The left front of the SUV hit the right front of the school bus, resulting in the rapid rotation of the SUV and secondary impact along the right side of the school bus. The SUV came to a rest in the grass right-of-way separating U.S. 90 from a frontage road on the south side of the highway, according to the report.
The school bus continued in a southeasterly direction, going off the roadway to the right, crossing the grass median, frontage road, and a drainage ditch, before coming to a rest in a sugar cane field, the report said.
As a result of the collision, the belted SUV driver and three unbelted rear passengers were ejected and died. The fourth SUV passenger, who had been seated in the front passenger seat and was wearing a seat belt, was seriously injured, the report said. Thirty occupants of the school bus received injuries ranging from minor to serious. The bus driver sustained minor injuries, the study stated.
Based on the evidence, the transportation board determined that the probable cause of the Centerville crash was the SUV driver’s loss of control due to the tread separation and rapid air loss of the left rear tire, which altered vehicle-handling characteristics. The deteriorated condition of the tire, due to inadequate maintenance, also contributed to the crash, the report stated.
The report made the following conclusions as a result of the investigation into tire-related crashes:
1. The current tire registration process has proven to be ineffective in enabling tire manufacturers to compile complete and accurate customer contact information, which is vital to ensuring the success of a tire recall.
2. A computerized system for capturing, storing, and uploading tire registration information would expedite the tire registration process, reduce transcription errors and encourage more dealers to register tires at the point of sale.
3. Modifying the tire registration form to include fields for the purchaser’s email address, telephone number, and vehicle identification number would provide additional means by which tire manufacturers could notify tire owners of recalls and recover more recalled tires that would otherwise continue in use.
4. Having a complete tire identification number on both sides of a tire would help consumers accurately identify a recalled tire and conduct maintenance as necessary and appropriate to the tire.
5. While vehicle recalls ultimately succeed in causing more than 75 percent of recalled vehicles to be serviced, tire recall recovery rates can be as low as 20 percent.
6. The tool for conducting tire recall searches on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website is confusing and could cause consumers to erroneously determine that their tires are not among those being recalled.
7. By not displaying tire recall information on their websites consistently and prominently, tire manufacturers have made it more difficult for consumers to respond appropriately to a tire recall.
8. Further research is needed to confirm that the implementation of federal motor vehicle safety standards has substantially reduced the risk of tire-aging-related crashes, injuries and fatalities.
9. The guidance provided by the tire and automotive industries regarding tire service life and the risks associated with tire aging can be inconsistent and confusing, which may lead consumers to make inappropriate tire replacement decisions.
10. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and industry stakeholders have not provided enough guidance to those consumers whose tires are most at risk of experiencing an aging-related failure.
11. Stakeholder efforts to educate consumers on basic tire maintenance have yielded little change in consumer behavior.
12. Vehicle and tire-based technologies exist or are in development that could help prevent or mitigate tire-related crashes and injuries.