If the ER doctor said the crash aggravated your knee, the insurance company will use that same record to argue it was all old damage.

From the insurer's side, this is the play: they point to your pre-existing condition and say the tire failure did not cause a "new" injury. They may also try to steer you toward blaming only the driver, or only the shop that mounted the tire, so the manufacturer gets left out. If the tire had a recall, they may act like that alone decides the case. It does not. A recall helps, but it is not the whole claim.

The reality in South Dakota is better than what they want you to believe. A defective tire that blows out on I-90 near Rapid City in summer heat can still support a claim even if your knee was already bad. If the wreck made it materially worse, that worsening matters. South Dakota recognizes strict liability for defective products, which can put responsibility on a manufacturer, and sometimes also on a seller or distributor if they were in the chain of sale. An installer may be separately liable if the mounting, balancing, inflation, or inspection was done negligently.

What matters is proof:

• keep the tire, wheel, and vehicle unchanged if possible
• get the recall notice, DOT tire code, purchase records, and shop invoice
• make sure your records say the crash caused a worsening, not just "chronic pain"
• report the crash to law enforcement and get the South Dakota crash report
• if there was a serious injury or fatality, agencies like the South Dakota Highway Patrol and sometimes NHTSA may become important sources of evidence

Do not let the damaged tire get discarded by a tow yard, body shop, or insurer. In a product case, that one piece of evidence can decide whether the blame stays on tourist traffic, hail-slick roads, or where it belongs: the defective tire.