Our favorite tire companies might not be alone in the new tire
rules. This is from Automotive News.
http://www.autonews.com/news.cms?newsId=2377
Matt Murray
mattm@optonline.net
203-856-3703
mattmurray@weichert.com
203-226-5100
One in three tires might fail new U.S. rules
Reuters / May 29, 2002
DETROIT -- About a third of the 287 million passenger car and
truck tires sold in the United States every year might fail new
standards spurred by the Firestone tire crisis, according to U.S.
auto safety regulators.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that
while some tires would have to be redesigned, the new rules could
save 27 lives and prevent 667 injuries a year from crashes caused
by blowouts or other tire failures. It also estimates the
standards would cost the tire industry $282 million annually.
Tire makers contend the rules are unnecessarily severe and would
cost the industry far more than NHTSA estimates. The agency had a
June 1 deadline for a final decision. But the debate has pushed
the deadline back indefinitely -- one of a number of delays the
agency faces in putting new safety rules in place.
"We agree with NHTSA that tire tests need to be updated," said
Dan Zielinski, spokesman for the Rubber Manufacturers
Association. "We just think they need to be more reflective of
real-world conditions."
The 271 deaths and more than 800 injuries linked to tread
separation and other failures of tires made by Bridgestone
Corp.'s <5108.T> Firestone unit, mostly on Ford Explorer sport
utility vehicles, spurred Congress to order a rewrite of federal
tire standards that have not changed since 1967.
The Firestone tires were found to have manufacturing defects that
left them susceptible to losing their tread, especially at high
temperatures.
Most of the accidents happened in hotter southern states. For a
decade, Ford Motor Co. recommended a tire pressure for the
Explorer that Firestone later said was too low, which also
increased the heat in the tires.
STANDING THE HEAT
While data on tire-related crashes is sketchy, NHTSA estimates
that about 414 deaths and 10,275 injuries a year might be caused
by failing tires. NHTSA's research also found that heat is a
common factor in all tire failures, with the highest rate of
accidents in southern states during summer months.
Two of the new tests would simply be tougher versions of current
measures, such as doubling the length of the endurance test to
3,278 miles.
Congress also required NHTSA to order all new vehicles to come
with a tire-pressure monitor. But since many owners will not
check their tire pressures until the monitor goes off, the agency
wants tires to perform for a short time at low inflation levels
to ensure an extra margin of safety.
One proposed test would take the tires from the endurance test
and run them under-inflated for 90 minutes at speeds topping out
at 99 miles per hour.
All the new standards combined would flunk about 33 percent of
current tires, according to limited tests conducted by NHTSA. It
also warned that its tests found wide differences in the
performance of tires that should have been identical.
"In several of the tire models we tested, four of the five tires
of a specific model passed the test, but the fifth tire failed,"
the agency said.
The Rubber Manufacturers Association has also proposed less
stringent tests that NHTSA says all modern tires would likely
pass.
"They have certainly suggested a range of very stringent, and
probably overly stringent, tests," said Rubber Manufacturers
Association's Zielinski of NHTSA. "But they've never presented
any concern there are unsafe tires out there that need to be
eliminated from the market."
'GROSSLY UNDERFUNDED'
Safety advocates and the lobbying group that represents
automakers are still studying the rules.
Joan Claybrook, the president of Public Citizen and former NHTSA
chief, says the agency is "grossly underfunded" to handle its
expanded duties and that the tire standards may be the toughest
rules to consider.
"Of all the requirements, they're the hardest to find the
benefits for," she said. "It's hard to isolate that (tires) are
the cause of an accident. The industry always blames the
consumer, which is the whole purpose of the (tire pressure)
monitor."
Claybrook has strongly criticized President George W. Bush's
administration for its delay of the tire-monitor rules. Earlier
this year, the White House's budget office told the NHTSA to
revamp its proposal, saying it could discourage anti-lock brakes
and would cost the industry more than other alternatives.
As to whether the White House would reject new tire standards,
Claybrook said; "I think if the tire industry doesn't like what
NHTSA is doing, the answer is 'Yes.'"
Copyright 2002 Reuters Limited.
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