USTMA Backs NHTSA Plan to Modernize Federal Tire Testing Standards

The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association says it backs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's plan for a negotiated rulemaking to modernize federal tire testing standards. USTMA president and CEO Anne Forristall Luke issued a statement on the announcement on Oct. 26.

USTMA says the current federal standards were designed for the tires of the 1960s and that updating them is work the tire industry has urged for years. The association credited NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison for taking it on.

Luke argued that the older standards no longer say much about today's tires:

Outdated tire testing standards designed for the tires of the 1960s tell us nothing about whether today's tires are safe. In fact, those outdated standards prevent American drivers from accessing the latest technology currently available in much of the rest of the world.

Anne Forristall Luke, president and CEO of the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association

USTMA says bringing the standards in line with modern tire technology will give Americans access to the highest performing tires made today. Its members, the association says, look forward to contributing their engineering expertise to the process.

What NHTSA has filed

NHTSA published a notice in the Federal Register on Oct. 27 stating its intent to establish a Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee for Tire Safety. In a negotiated rulemaking, an agency invites the groups a regulation would affect to work together on consensus recommendations. If the committee reaches a consensus, the Department of Transportation says it will issue a proposed rule for public comment.

The notice says the committee would help inform a proposal to modernize existing tire requirements and test procedures. On testing, NHTSA says discussions would focus on whether the tire strength (plunger energy) test, the bead unseating resistance test and the tire endurance test are still necessary and effective. Those tests appear in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards Nos. 109, 119 and 139. Other topics include non-pneumatic tires, updated tire markings and a Tire and Rim Association petition on Load Range F light truck tires.

NHTSA proposes a committee of up to 18 members, including four representatives from tire manufacturers or tire retailers. Comments and membership applications are due Nov. 27. The full Federal Register notice has the details. USTMA's statement did not itself describe these steps, so they come from the notice.

More about the association is available from USTMA.