Criminalizing Installing and/or Selling “Unsafe” Re-treaded Tires

H.3430 would create a definition for “unsafe” tires that includes “damage exposing the reinforcing plies of the tire, including cuts, cracks, bulges, punctures, or scrapes.” The law code is not the place for distinguishing the difference between safe and unsafe tires. That is the job of a private accrediting or certifying body. According to the bill, for instance, an unsafe tire is one in which “tread depth is worn to two thirty seconds of an inch or less on any area of the tire.” Two thirty seconds of an inch? What about three thirty seconds of an inch? In practice, this bill would almost certainly eliminate the used tire industry. Further, the law already subjects sellers to liability for harm caused by the sale of “any product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer”. It’s unclear why this new law is needed.