Thursday, January 15, 2009

Get Your Money's Worth &
Keep Your Family Safe!

Self-reliance is not just about food and eating, right? It's about getting your money's worth, and it's about that feeling of security and safety. A friend just made me aware of aware of a very important issue that definitely might save your life or the lives of your loved ones. Since all of us drive cars, it affects every one of us.

In the United Kingdom, auto tires have an expiration date. Have you ever seen that in the U.S.? No. Yet, apparently, it very much matters how long it has been since a tire was manufactured, even if that tire is sitting in a tire store looking brand-new. Who knew? The manufacturers knew and our government knows and no one told us. Why does this not surprise me?

As tires age, they dry out a bit and the tread becomes less stable, even six years after they were manufactured. Does it bother you that tires you thought were new might fall apart while you're driving down the freeway? Yet, there are tires all over the U.S. being sold as "brand-new" that were manufactured as long as 12 years ago. So, please watch the ABC news story linked below so you know what to watch for and how to decode the manufacturer date stamped on the tires. Please check your own car tires, too, and pass this information onto your family and friends. I'm crossing my fingers the link to this news story stays up a good long time.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

3 comments:

Melonie said...

Wow....I never realized they'd have issues unused, unless they were sitting in a sunny window or something, taking a beating from the heat! Yikes! Thanks for the tip.

R.L. said...

It was sure news to me, too. I agree with your "Yikes!" :)

Erica said...

You should also check out blog.TotallyReady.com. She has really great helps and I am so much better prepared because of the simple easy to follow ideas there.