Untitled DocumentLEGISLATION
Industry Wants Rule
on the Life of Tires
WASHINGTON - Amid an intensifying debate about whether consumers should replace older tires, the tire industry is asking the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to weigh in.
Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG recently began warning U.S. customers to replace older tires regardless of wear. The companies say age can make tires weaker, even if they look new.
A consumer group last year asked traffic safety agency for new labeling requirements to indicate tire age. The traffic safety agency itself is looking at new tire-age requirements under a mandate from Congress.
Now tire industry officials -- seeking to avoid consumer confusion -- want the traffic safety agency to issue a consumer advisory on tires.
The Rubber Manufacturers Association, a trade group representing tiremakers, said in a June 10 letter to the traffic safety agency that the agency needed to issue a consumer advisory, but one based on the best research and scientific findings. Given that there is more data tying fatalities and injuries to under-inflated tires than old tires, the group said the traffic safety agency should warn consumers about tire care instead of tire age.
"The industry does not have enough data that correlates a specific age with degraded tire performance," said Dan Zielinski, spokesman for the Rubber Manufacturers Association.
But Ford and DaimlerChrysler believe there is enough research to warrant replacing tires after six years. Ford has sponsored extensive research on tire aging. DaimlerChrysler has long warned Mercedes customers in Europe to replace older tires.
General Motors Corp. (GM), the world's largest automaker, is backing the tire industry. In a June 1 statement, GM said tires were more likely to wear out than become too old. But the variety of factors that add to the loss of tire strength -- maintenance, hot weather and road conditions -- means tire age must be judged on a case by case basis, GM said.
"We recognize that tires do age, and we are participating in studies that are trying to get a better understanding of the issue," James Gutting, director of GM's Tire and Wheel Laboratory in Milford said in the statement.
"The customer operating environment for the main aging factors varies greatly, and that makes it difficult to select a specific age when tires should be replaced."
NHTSA is considering a petition from SRS Inc., a Massachusetts auto safety research firm, to make tire information imprinted on the sides of tires easier to read. SRS President Sean Kane asked the traffic safety agency to revise its tire-labeling requirements to clearly identify the manufacturer on the sides of tires. That information is currently available in code, but sometimes only on the inner sidewall. To identify the tire maker and when the tire was made, consumers must crawl underneath a vehicle with a flashlight, retrieve the code and then decipher it.
Kane said research has become more certain that there is a link between age and poor tire performance. In addition to Ford and DaimlerChrysler, BMW AG, Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp. warn consumers to replace tires regardless of wear.
"The lion's share of the auto industry is saying six years," Kane said.
Under a mandate from Congress, the traffic safety agency is conducting research on tire aging and is expected to propose a new test for tire manufacturers to pass. Traffic safety agency spokesman Rae Tyson said the agency would consider the petition on tire labeling as it studies the tire aging issue.
(Source: MEMA/Detroit News)
