New tires are those with 10/32nds of an inch’s worth of tread. Studies determining how well – or how poorly – vehicles with this level of tread can stop on a wet roadway have found that they stop with an average of 195 feet when going a whopping 70 miles per hour. This is equivalent to the length of 5 full-sized school buses.
When vehicles only had worn tread – that means tread no longer than 4/32nds of an inch long – stopping abruptly on a wet roadway, going – yet again – 70 miles per hour took an alarming 7.25 school bus lengths.
In the event a vehicle going 70 miles per hour with bald tires – that means with less than 2/32nds of an inch’s worth of tread – required over 375 feet of uninterrupted roadway to stop to a complete halt.
Rather than performing all these tests yourself – alongside the penny and quarter tests – consider having your tires checked by a professional, then removed and replaced by the pros at Phillips Chevrolet.
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