Because the risk can be very high, most technicians recommend avoiding driving the vehicle and repairing bad ball joints as soon as possible. The best advice is not to keep driving with a bad ball joint until an auto repair technician can inspect it. A worn ball joint can suddenly fail, causing the suspension to collapse and the wheel to fold under the car. This can lead to a loss of control and could lead to a serious accident. Even before complete failure, a bad ball joint can cause poor handling, wandering steering, and uneven tire wear, all of which reduce safety. Once ball joints become loose, there is no reliable way to know when they will fail.