The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today issued new, more stringent performance requirements that will apply to nearly all new tires for use on vehicles up to 10,000 pounds.
"Without question, these new performance requirements will improve tire safety," said NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey W. Runge, M.D.
The final rule strengthens the current requirements for high speed and endurance tests while adding a low-pressure performance test. It also defers action on other upgrades including new tests for aging and road hazards, and modifications to the current bead unseating test.
Given the increasing consumer preference for using light trucks for personal transportation purposes, NHTSA is, for the first time, extending the tire performance requirements for passenger car tires to LT tires (load range C, D, and E) used on light trucks (sport utility vehicles, pickups, vans).
Since it is the first substantive change to standards in over 30 years, manufacturers will be given four years to comply. All covered tires and vehicles must meet the new standards by June 1, 2007.
Upgraded tire standards were required under the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation Act of 2000 (TREAD).
In other rulemaking actions required by the TREAD Act, NHTSA issued a number of revisions to its safety standard for child restraint systems, including amendments for incorporating improved test dummies and updating procedures used to test child restraints. These revisions strengthen the technical underpinnings of the standard and ensure a firmer foundation for possible technical improvements in the future. Child restraints will be tested using the most advanced test dummies available today and tested to conditions representing current model vehicles, NHTSA said.
