June 7, 2005
Major tire manufacturers are suing the U.S. government in an effort to block the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's tire pressure monitoring regulation for all cars and light trucks. The tire makers claim the standard is inadequate to ensure safety.
Trade and consumer groups have joined with Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., Japan's Bridgestone Corp., the parent of Firestone, and Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. in the federal court challenge.
A previous legal challenge by safety groups forced regulators to rewrite the rule. Completed in April, the revised NHTSA rule ordered auto companies to install sensors that measure pressure simultaneously on all four of a vehicle's tires.
The revised regulation takes effect this fall and is an important aspect of safety changes ordered by Congress in the aftermath of the Firestone tire problems, blamed for the deaths of nearly 300 people.
Most of the Firestone crashes were rollover accidents involving Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicles. Firestone recalled millions of tires and Congress enacted a sweeping series of laws to boost vehicle and tire safety.
With the new NHTA rule, a dashboard light will warn of under-inflated tires when pressures is more than 25 percent below the recommended level. Tire makers and the consumer group Public Citizen oppose a single standard because tires vary in size and thickness. A 25 percent drop in recommended pressure may leave some tires so under-inflated they cannot safely support a fully loaded vehicle.
Regulators estimate the new rule will cost the auto industry between $800 million and $1.1 billion to phase in the technology on all new vehicles through 2007. The more precise technology favored by tire manufacturers would cost more money.
Automakers do not oppose the new regulation. Tire monitoring systems are already installed on 2 million to 4 million vehicles, mainly luxury models. Most pressure monitoring systems use sensors that are tied into anti-lock brakes.
