Special attention should be paid to the tread on your tires, especially for the gray, rainy days that often occur this time of year. Without sufficient tread depth, your vehicle can’t properly grip the road. Under wet weather conditions, insufficient tread depth can cause a vehicle to hydroplane — skim over the surface of the road with little or no traction, which can lead to a crash. So check your tread. All you need is a Lincoln penny.
- Insert Abe's head into the tread in a couple of spots on each tire. If you can see the entire top of his head, your tread is less that one-sixteenth of an inch deep — below the level where you can count on it in slippery conditions. It should be replaced.
- When the tread is worn down to 2/32 of an inch, tires must be replaced.
- All tires have "wear bars," which are small, raised bars of rubber in the groove that indicate when tires are worn out. If your tread is worn down to the wear bars, it's time for a new tire.