Low tire-pressure alert proposed
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, September 15, 2004
WASHINGTON – Starting in 2007, the government wants all new vehicles to have warning lights that alert drivers to low tire pressure.
A proposal Wednesday would require that vehicles have a yellow light that would illuminate when the pressure on any one of the four tires is underinflated by 25 percent or more.
Federal regulators said the proposal probably would cost as much as $70 per vehicle, or a total of $1.1 billion annually, based on average sales of about 15.7 million new vehicles a year. But the requirement would save as much as $1.7 billion in fuel and vehicle maintenance costs, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Dan Zielinski, a spokesman for the Rubber Manufacturers Association, said tire makers disagree with setting a flat rate of 25 percent underinflation.
“For one vehicle, that might be fine. For another, it might not be,” he said. “If you want to make a system that warns people, you should warn people before they’re in danger.”
Zielinski said automakers set their recommended pressure for a variety of reasons, including vehicle handling. That recommendation may be above the minimum needed to carry the vehicle at its maximum weight, so if the pressure drops, the vehicle will still be safe.
But if the pressure is right at the minimum, a 25 percent drop would mean that the tires could be damaged because they do not have enough air to carry a fully loaded vehicle, Zielinski said.
