Tires — North Carolina Permit Test

Tires are unsafe if they are cut, cracked or worn enough to expose the cord, show tread separation or chunking, or have less than 1/16 inch of tread depth.

Tread is what pushes water out from under the tire. Below a sixteenth of an inch there is not enough left to do it.

Tires are considered unsafe if they are cut, cracked or worn so as to expose the tire cord, or when they have visible tread separation, chunking or less than 1/16-inch-tread depth.

Tires without enough air wear out faster and are more likely to blow out; overinflated tires reduce traction and wear in the middle of the tread.

A soft tire flexes and heats up with every turn of the wheel. Heat is what blows a tire apart.

Tires without enough air wear out more quickly. Also, tires without enough air increase the likelihood of a blowout.

Check tire pressure at least once a month, when the tires are cool, and follow the manufacturer’s recommendation.

Driving warms the air in a tire and raises the reading. Cold tires give the number the manufacturer meant.

The air pressure of tires must be checked at least once each month.

Below what tread depth is a tire considered unsafe?

1/16 of an inch. Tread is what pushes water out from under the tire. Below a sixteenth of an inch there is not enough left to do it. North Carolina Driver Handbook, p.66: “Tires are considered unsafe if they are cut, cracked or worn so as to expose the tire cord, or when they have visible tread separation, chunking or less than 1/16-inch-tread depth.”