Magazine for the professional tire industry
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Avoid the lawsuit blues: 5 ways to protect yourself when installing custom tires and wheels By Kevin Rohlwing T here are a wide variety of guidelines and rec- ommendations in the world of passenger and light truck tire service. As someone who is partially responsible for establishing those guidelines and recommendations, the chal- lenge is to determine the degree of care that must be followed. In some instances, the guide- line is communicated as a "must" or "always." In order for some- thing to be a "must" or "always," there has to be a direct corre- lation between safety and the failure to follow the guideline. For example, when it comes to tire repair, the tire must be removed from the rim so the interior can be inspected. Failing to remove the tire from the rim as part of the tire repair process may result in a signifcant safety risk to the driver if the damage on the inside is severe. There- fore, demounting the tire from the rim is a "must" in the world of tire repair. On the other end of the spectrum, "never" reflects a guideline where the conse- quences are severe and safety is impacted directly. To use the tire repair example again, the industry unanimously agrees that tires should never be repaired on the rim. Another example can be found in the "Care and Service of Passenger and Light Truck Tires," published by the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA). According to the RMA, technicians should "Never 'bleed' or reduce infation pres- sure when tires are hot from driving, as it is normal for pres- sures to increase above recom- mended cold pressures." Again, the consequence of defating a hot tire is often underinfation or overloading, so the RMA has made it a "never." The tire and wheel business has its share of guidelines that are a "must, always, or never," but there are also some that are "should" or "recommended." In those instances, failing to follow the guideline can have negative effects, but the risk to safety is not as direct or severe. From the legal perspective, there is enough gray area for someone to make a good argu- ment that there are exceptions to the rule or there isn't unani- mous consent among industry experts and authorities. In the world of custom tires and wheels, there are a lot of different ways that installers can end up in court. When it happens, the plaintiffs will focus on whatever guideline or recommendation was not followed that violated the stan- dard of care and caused the accident. Based on my 20 years as an educator and 10-plus years as an expert witness in court cases, here is my personal opinion on how tire retailers can protect themselves from liability (but you're still going to get sued and end up in court). There is no way to deter- mine if this custom tire and wheel package is within industry guide- lines just be looking at it. The retailer that sold and installed it is responsible for all of the ftment issues related to the tire and wheel com- bination. The retailers that service have to rely on the installer to follow the industry guidelines. 16 Feature