访谈录 2008-05-13&05-15,"崭新"的轮胎：看不见的巨大危机

Summer time means millions more people on the road which makes it urgent that you see what Bryant Ross has discovered about tires. Are those new tires really new? Experts say finding out could protect you from deadly consequences.

 

The call came to the Moore house in Newtown, Pennsylvania just days after 18-year-old Andy Moore had left in the family van for a graduation trip to Canada.

 

"My ex-wife called me,  Andy’s brother called me. And I'll never forget she said a policeman just came to the house, they told me Andy had a car accident, and then her voice started to crack, she said that and they told me that he died."

 

Police outside Toronto said the accident that killed Andy Moore and Andy’s best friend wasn’t caused by speed or alcohol, but by a tire failure. The tire didn’t just blow out. The tread¹ actually peeled off the tire, leading Robert Moore to a troubling discovery about the American tire industry.

 

"I got my vehicle maintenance² records together, and that's when I discovered that the, tires that I thought were new were actually 4 years old when I bought them.”

 

It turns out that tires sold in this country can be sitting on the shelves for years. And only later would Robert Moore learned about the researching tests which show that as tires get older, even if they look new, they begin to dry out, and after 6 years of age can become very dangerous. At the time of the accident, the tires on the Moore family van were actually 9 years old.

 

I was led to believe I had safe tires on the car, and so I sent these boys off to Canada, thinking they had a safe vehicle and they didn’t.

 

And decedent test done for lawsuits³, when a car is traveling at highway speed and a tire tread comes off, the car violently swerves⁴ and weaves. Even a skilled driver, who knew he was about to lose the tire, could not keep control.

 

"I think I'm okay, I think I'm okay!"

 

"There is no scientific information that can point to when a tire should be removed because of age."

 

"It’s a hidden danger. You can look at a tire where the tire looks greatly fine, you don’t know what’s going on inside it, that's what makes it so dangerous,"

 

Shawn Cane⁵ who runs a private auto-safety research firm has been in the forefront of trying to draw attention to the issue of aged⁶ tires.

 

"Essentially⁷ it'sdrying out, yeah, it's becoming less elastic⁸.”

 

Even when the tire has never been driven a mile and looks like it has plenty of tread depth, the usual test of a tire safety:

 

"You have plenty of tread depth on this tire, right, plenty of tread depth, it's brand-new,"

 

"Yet it's very dangerous in your view."

 

"Absolutely.”

 

1 tread   

vi.踩；行走；vt.踩烂（出）；n.胎面，脚步声

参考例句：

• A policeman walked by with a slow,measured tread.一名警察迈着小心的步子慢慢走过。
• We heard father's tread on the steps.我们听到台阶上父亲的脚步声。

2 maintenance   

n.维修，保养，扶养费，维持，保持

参考例句：

• His small farm provides maintenance,but not much more.他的小农场能使他们维持生活，但仅此而已。
• He has to pay maintenance to his ex-wife.他必须给前妻赡养费。

3 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

4 swerves   

n.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的名词复数 )v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The road swerves to the right. 道路向右转弯。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• At the last moment, Nina swerves and slams into a parked car. 在最后关头，尼娜突然转弯，将车猛烈撞入一辆停着的车中。 来自互联网

5 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

6 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 elastic   

n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的

参考例句：

• Rubber is an elastic material.橡胶是一种弹性材料。
• These regulations are elastic.这些规定是有弹性的。