MONROE COUNTY, Ga. — A tire flew off a truck, struck a woman driving three lanes away, and killed her.
It happened on Sunday in Peach County, but days later, some are still asking, "Who is responsible for inspecting truck tires?"
We set out to verify.
Thousands of trucks cross Georgia's roads every day, which means tens of thousands of tires are doing the same thing.
You've probably seen weigh stations on the side of the highway.
The question is: do all trucks go through them, and are the officers who work there responsible for checking each truck's tires?
We talked to Captain James Steen with the Department of Public Safety to find out.
Our question to him was straightforward: "Do your officers inspect every truck's tires?"
The Region 6 commander said, "Not every one."
"We do what we can with the officers that we have," he continued.
Steen says trucks that get stopped at a weigh station often do receive a tire inspection, but many trucks never get stopped.
Instead, a special scale weighs them while they're driving on the highway. If there are no infractions detected, they keep on rolling.
So we can verify, the state does not inspect every truck's tires at weigh stations.
Instead, Steen says the truck's driver is ultimately responsible for keeping their vehicles safe.
"He's ultimately responsible for doing a pre-trip inspection on his vehicle before he puts it on the roadway," said Captain Steen.
Veteran truck driver Greg Manning agrees. He's a driver trainer at Texas Freight Services of Georgia.
He says the potential consequences of not checking a rig are inescapable.
"You're thinking about it the whole time you're behind the wheel," said Manning. "You gotta be alert and stay alert. You're thinking about, 'What could go wrong?'"
Captain Steen also noted that Department of Public Safety officers pull over trucks all across the state, not just at weigh stations. Many times during those stops, the officers inspect the truck's tires.
Steen suggested all drivers, not just professional truck operators, should do a quick safety check of their vehicles before hitting the road.