Valvoline.com

Tire-Pressure Monitoring Required

The pressure is on while the debate continues

Americans are notoriously tire-challenged. Studies by the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) shows 85 percent of drivers do not perform proper or timely checks of their auto tire pressure. Following the Firestone Tire recall in 2000, the federal government is proposing a new regulation requiring automakers to equip all new vehicles with tire pressure monitors on all four wheels of the vehicle. These monitors will warn drivers through yellow dashboard signals when any tire becomes under-inflated by 25 percent or more.

Federal Regulation

Previously the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had allowed tire pressure monitors that either worked in concert with braking systems or as direct systems on each tire. Public Citizen, a Washington-based consumer group, sued saying that the indirect systems mounted on the brakes were less accurate and did not comply with the Congressional mandate for tire monitoring systems. That suit was upheld in court.

The government says the new system regulation will cost up to $69.89 per vehicle or $823 million to $1.2 billion across the auto industry. However, the government also estimates that $1.7 billion in fuel and vehicle maintenance costs charged to underinflated tires will be saved. Low tire pressure heats up tires causing wear at the edges and sides of the tires and requires more fuel to run the vehicle. NHTSA estimates 120 lives will be saved and more than 8,000 injuries will be prevented each year because the devices would prompt consumers to maintain the proper air pressure in their tires leading to improved braking, and help motorists avoid skids and loss of control of their vehicles.

25-Percent Loss Debate

While in favor of the tire pressure regulation, the RMA argues that setting the warning at 25 percent loss of pressure may be an insufficient warning threshold for a fully-loaded vehicle. "Under NHTSA's proposed standard, motorists could be driving for thousands of miles on tires that are appreciably underinflated but still not receive a warning," the organization said. Driving on underinflated tires causes excessive heat buildup in tires that, over time, can result in hidden damage that can cause tire failure. Since no systems are fail-proof, the RMA urges that consumers should continue to check tire pressure once a month and before long trips.

Some four million vehicles are already equipped with tire pressure monitor devices; the majority are tied to the brake systems. From 2005 to 2007, the more costly but more accurate systems mounted on each tire will be phased in across all models.

Compliance

Beginning September 1, 2005, automakers will have to install the new warning systems. Over the 2006 model year, 50 percent of an automaker's lineup must be equipped with the new device. By 2007, 90 percent of models must have the device and by 2008 they must be in full compliance.

Spokesmen for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said the auto industry is well on the way to meeting the new requirements saying that nearly 10 percent of new vehicles already offer direct tire pressure monitoring systems.

NHTSA is requiring the system only on new cars because it says that the system will continue to work when tires are replaced, but cannot anticipate the wide variety of tires that consumers can choose to install. But NHTSA said data indicates the systems work with the vast majority of replacement tires.