I found this ABC News article about tires very interesting. Here's an excerpt:

"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 appeared on the ABC News program
"20/20," a few months ago.

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."

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