Friday, April 8, 2005

Tire pressure monitor required in 3 years

Highway safety agency estimates the new systems will save 120 lives a year.

By Jeff Plungis / Detroit News Washington Bureau

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WASHINGTON -- Within the next three years, all new cars, SUVs, minivans and pickups will be required to warn consumers when a tire is underinflated.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates the new systems will save 120 lives and prevent 8,400 injuries a year. When a tire becomes underinflated, a yellow warning light will appear in the vehicle's instrument cluster usually behind the steering wheel.

NHTSA said the new tire-pressure monitors would cost automakers between $48 and $70 per vehicle, but those costs are expected to be offset by savings to consumers of between $30 and $35 in fuel costs and longer tire life.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers estimated the cost to equip the device would be higher, up to $115 per vehicle.

The regulation is one of the final steps NHTSA has undertaken in response to the series of crashes involving Firestone tires and Ford Explorer SUVs in the late 1990s. At least 271 people were killed and more than 700 were injured. The tire-pressure monitors were mandated by Congress in the TREAD Act, which became law in Nov. 2000.

"We're happy to have the final rule in place so we can continue to implement the technology, which we have been offering," said Eron Shosteck, spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

The first tire-pressure monitoring system was sold in the Chevrolet Corvette in 1997, Shosteck said.

The tire industry said the rule would not adequately warn consumers about their tires.

NHTSA's threshold for warning motorists -- 25 percent below the manufacturers' recommended inflation pressure -- is too high, according to the tire makers' trade association. The Rubber Manufacturers Association said tires that have lost much less air can be dangerous.

"Unfortunately, this regulation may give motorists a false sense of security that their tires are properly inflated when they may be significantly underinflated," said Donald Shea, president of the Rubber Manufacturers Association.

Shea urges motorists to perform regular tire maintenance, such as checking pressure with a tire gauge at least once a month.

NHTSA is allowing automakers to roll out the warning device on a three-year schedule. Automakers must equip 20 percent of their new cars and trucks with the systems in the 2006 model year. In 2007, 70 percent of all new models will be covered. By 2008, all models will have to meet the requirement.

The regulation applies to all new four-wheeled vehicles that weigh 10,000 pounds or less.

The final regulation ends a bureaucratic flap between NHTSA, which advocated a system that could detect under inflation in any tire, and the White House, which wanted to allow automakers to offer a less costly, less accurate monitoring system.