Auto Safety Consultant to Deliver Presentation at 2012 International Tire Exhibition & Conference

PRLog (Press Release) - Aug. 29, 2012 - CLEVELAND, August 29, 2012 — William Blythe, Ph. D., of Palo Alto, Emeritus Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at San Jose State University and an auto safety consultant, will deliver a presentation entitled “Tire Tread Depth Involvement in Passenger Car Wet-road Loss of Control” at the International Tire Exhibition and Conference 2012 (ITEC) in Cleveland’s I-X Center, Sept. 18-20.

   ITEC 2012 is expecting 5,000 attendees from as many as 20 countries. Attendees include tire manufacturers, vendors, suppliers, dealers, distributors and wholesalers – essentially any organization that conducts business in the tire industry. The three-day event features a trade show with more than 100 global exhibitors and ample opportunities to network with hundreds of tire industry professionals from around the world.

   Dr. Blythe’s presentation will deal with research that has suggested the need for an increase in minimum legal passenger car tire tread depth requirements. To address this concern, over 7,000 accident reports have been analyzed. Accident situations that indicate a loss of wet-road traction have been studied in detail.

   The research indicates that between 300 and 400 deaths may occur per year in the United States as a result of loss of wet-road traction due to low tread depth, as well as approximately 30,000 injury-producing highway accidents per year.

   Current minimum legal tire tread depth in most States is 2/32 of an inch. (It is 1/32 of an inch in California.)  Tread depths below about 4/32 of an inch produce significantly less wet-road traction at highway speeds than do deeper tread depths, and tires with tread depths below 4/32 of an inch can approach the dangerous condition of hydroplaning at highway speeds on minimally-wet roads.

   Dr. Blythe was professor of Civil Engineering at San Jose State for 42 years, retiring in January of 2000.  He was Chairman of the Department of Civil Engineering for 12 years, from 1969 to 1981.

About ITEC 2012

ITEC (www.itec-tireshow) is a biennial trade show and conference co-produced by Rubber & Plastics News and Tire Business, both Crain Communications Inc. publications. Originally started in 1994 as an event for the world’s tire manufacturing industry, in 2010 ITEC expanded into a show that encompasses all aspects of the tire industry with a special emphasis on sales, marketing, tire design, development and manufacturing to tire distribution, reuse and recycling