WTF - Bad Tires May Have Caused Irving Officer's Fatal Crash

**TXCharlie** · 05-20-07, 05:19 PM

http://www.nbc5i.com/newsbycounty/13344890/detail.html

POSTED: 8:28 am CDT May 18, 2007
UPDATED: 8:53 am CDT May 18, 2007

Bad tires may have played a role in the death of Irving police officer Andrew Esparza.

Esparza was rushing to an emergency in severe weather on April 13.

His car hydroplaned and crashed into a light pole.

A police report said the rear tire treads on Esparza's squad car were below the minimum standard and may have contributed to the car spinning out of control.

Previous Stories:
April 18, 2007: Irving Officer Killed In Storm Laid To Rest
April 17, 2007: Vigil Held For Irving Officer
April 14, 2007: Crash Takes Irving Officer's Life

**gozling** · 05-20-07, 05:24 PM

they dont have monthly pm's on the cars?
geesh....
that is awful to hear

**TXCharlie** · 05-20-07, 05:33 PM

That's what I was thinking...

I wouldn't think a monthly inspection would be often enough, really. Seems to me like tire inspections should be weekly, at least just gaugeing the tread and looking for knots, as much as those cars are used.

**gozling** · 05-20-07, 05:37 PM

I know I have 4 new tires put on my car every month and they really are not worn down all that much.. worn a bit uneven yes... but not to that line part.
I run 2's and 3's the majority of my shift, but i am also just in the sun with no cold weather so.. and I dont know much about tires lol.. but i guess they would wear more in winter? dunno

I hope something did not go severly wrong like this though...
truely awful.

**TXCharlie** · 05-20-07, 05:51 PM

Sounds like your PD is top-notch if they put all-new tires on your car every month.

I've never asked anyone around here how often tires get replaced, but I would hope all the PD's will be re-examining their PM schedules and procedures after this.

**gozling** · 05-20-07, 06:00 PM

Originally Posted by TXCharlie

Sounds like your PD is top-notch if they put all-new tires on your car every month.

I've never asked anyone around here how often tires get replaced, but I would hope all the PD's will be re-examining their PM schedules and procedures after this.

there usually is not a month that goes by that we dont have nails or screws in them and thats one of the biggest reasons we get new tires.
I have to admitt our mechanics and pms are really strict. if we miss the pm date we can lose the car permenantly. same with any damage to the car.
I95 is horrible to go down in rush hour traffic and most of the time I will be running a 3 down the break down lane running over all sorts of shit lol.

**Beans** · 05-20-07, 06:02 PM

We have PM's on our cars, but they do a shitty job. I could see this happening on my department. Many times I have taken a pool car with low tread and reported it. The car goes in for a PM and comes back with the same shitty tires.

**TXCOP** · 05-21-07, 08:13 AM

I just quit as fleet manager for my PD because they didn't have the balls to let me enforce rules. Bald tires, inspection out by three months, faulty equipment and the list goes on.

And the bad tires was just one of the reasons.......another could be that he was hauling ass.

**TXCharlie** · 05-21-07, 11:51 AM

It couldn't be any worse than the college PD car we were loaned for our driving class... First, we had to jump it off - Then halfway through the first lap it dumped its load of power steering fluid in the college parking lot, so the instructor had to make a run down to the store to buy more fluid.

It dumped that out too, so we got the other car - One of its tires were inflated to 10 PSI, and you could hear the damn shocks squeaking from a mile away - But at least it ran, sort of

**Big Al** · 05-21-07, 12:14 PM

If I saw one of my trooper's cars with worn tires on it I would make him go get new ones ASAP

**BigDawg** · 05-21-07, 12:32 PM

As bad as it is to say....if I was in this officers family I would be thinking law suit. Its the only way that the policy there and some other places will get changed. There is no excuse for faulty equipment and/or training.

**kjlaw** · 05-21-07, 12:41 PM

We do a weekly pm (check fluids, tires, other equipment) and also when the car comes in for an oil change it gets a complete pm check brakes and tires seem to get changed as often as the oil.

It is sad to think that an officer lost his life because of a easily avoided problm like that.

**TXCharlie** · 05-21-07, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by BigDawg3533

As bad as it is to say....if I was in this officers family I would be thinking law suit. Its the only way that the policy there and some other places will get changed. There is no excuse for faulty equipment and/or training.

I think they should too, if that turns out to be true. A lawsuit would especially be benificial in re-aligning city priorities if the root cause turns out to be budget cutbacks.

**TXCOP** · 05-22-07, 07:39 AM

Originally Posted by TXCharlie

It couldn't be any worse than the college PD car we were loaned for our driving class... First, we had to jump it off - Then halfway through the first lap it dumped its load of power steering fluid in the college parking lot, so the instructor had to make a run down to the store to buy more fluid.

It dumped that out too, so we got the other car - One of its tires were inflated to 10 PSI, and you could hear the damn shocks squeaking from a mile away - But at least it ran, sort of

Trust me, I work for the same district.