Motorists in Europe and Asia get the warnings, but here in the States, we don’t.

Tires six years old or older are hazardous – even if they have never been used on a vehicle. More than vehicle accident 100 deaths in the United States have been caused by old tires that have dried out and lost their treads, even though the tires appeared to be safe.

While members of the British Rubber Manufacturers Association (which includes Goodyear, Firestone, and Michelin brands) have warned that “unused tires” should not be put into use if they are over six years old, the U.S. Tire Industry Association (which represents several of those same companies) has said it has no plans to issue such a warning. The U.S. Association has gone as far as to say that there is no scientific information that points to when a tire should not be used based on age.

The safety experts in the field feel otherwise; extensive research shows that tires begin to deteriorate in “critical” ways even if they are unused or unsold in inventories. These hazardous tires can remain in a store’s inventory for as many as eight or 10 years.

Experts say that the code on a tire’s sidewall can reveal when a tire was manufactured. The code is at the end of a set of letters and numbers on a tire, and until recently, was on the inward facing side of the tire.

For example, the number 379 shows that the tire was manufactured in the 37th week of 1999 and is almost 10 years old – and has the potential to be dangerous, even if the tread still appears to be in good condition.

A family in Texas has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against GMC and another woman for a two-car collision that occurred on May 24, 2006 and resulted in the death of a family member. The fatal collision was allegedly caused by a combination of driver negligence and manufacturer negligence for the defective design of the GMC Yukon.

The original report states that the family was driving in their 2002 GMC Yukon on the highway when the defendant allegedly crossed into their lane. The family tried to take evasive action and veered off the highway causing their SUV to roll over. The suit states that although the family in the SUV were wearing their seat belts and were properly restrained, the driver suffered severe head injuries, proving fatal, while the other passenger was seriously injured as the vehicle failed to protect them.

The lawsuit claims that GMC was aware of the design defects of the GMC Yukon, but they did not fix the design or warn customers of the problem. It also states that the family seeks actual damages, which are a result of GMC’s manufacturing defects.

Car wreck attorneys are working on cases where fatality has resulted due to negligence.

A man who lost his son in an SUV roof crush accident in 2003 sought out the assistance of Oklahoma Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. Upon reviewing the evidence supplied by the man, Coburn discussed the issue of roof crush with Senator Mark Pryor, who is the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Automotive Safety. A Senate hearing to discuss the role that roof crush plays in rollover accidents is scheduled for June 4.

Roof crush occurs when the weight of the vehicle exceeds the strength of the roof, cause the roof to collapse during a rollover and crush the occupants. Roof crush can result in serious injuries to the head, neck and spine, often resulting in death. Even though only 3 percent of accidents are rollovers, they have the highest rate of fatality.

Researchers have proposed that stronger roof strength standards could prevent up to 10,000 deaths per year from roof crush during rollovers.

Car wreck attorneys are working on cases in which serious injury has resulted from the negligence of automotive manufacturers.