[FWDLK]

[Ray Jones <hurst300@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Just read this on ABC News and am passing it on. This is old news to 
many of us but some may not be aware of the danger. Tune in and make up 
your own mind about risking your big investment.
Ray

The U.S. tire industry is refusing to give American motorists the same 
warning given to car owners in Europe and Asia about the possible 
dangers of tires six years old or older.

 More than 100 deaths in the U.S. have been attributed to aged tires 
which dried out and lost their treads, even though they appeared to be 
safe, according to Sean Kane, who heads a private auto safety firm and 
consults with the federal government.

 With no warning from the industry or the federal government, safety 
experts say the only way for consumers to protect themselves is to 
learn how to read the cryptic code embedded on a tire's sidewall which 
reveals the year and week a tire was manufactured.

 A full report on how to break the code will appear Friday on the ABC 
News program "20/20."

 The code is at the end of a jumble of letters and numbers on the tire 
and, until recently, was on the inward side of the tire requiring 
motorists to climb under the car to read the number.

 For example, the number 418 indicates the tire was manufactured in the 
41st week of 1998 and is 10 years old.

 "U.S. consumers are left in the dark on this issue," said Kane.

 A tire older than six years old, even if it's never been driven a 
mile, "is like a ticking time bomb. You don't know what's going on 
inside. That's what makes it so dangerous," said Kane in an interview 
for broadcast on "20/20."

Watch the full report on "20/20" Friday at 10 p.m. ET.

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