National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 28-03
Contact: Tim Hurd, (202) 366-9550
Monday, June 23, 2003
NHTSA
Issues New Performance Standard
For Passenger Car and Light Truck Tires
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.
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