Abstract: Tire treads are designed to be receptive to the technique of cutting parallel slits therein for the purpose of improving traction and wear life. In order to obtain the advantages of slitting while avoiding cracking and breaking off of tread elements during use, the slit angle, general guides for the tire size and type and slit depth should be chosen within prescribed limits, and additional voids such as shoulder grooves, cross grooves and cross molded voids should be parallel to the slits. Tie bars integral at their ends with tread elements extend across the tread grooves to provide lateral support for the tread elements.