NHTSA Tire Pressure Monitor Rule Axed as Too Weak

WASHINGTON September 12, 2003;Dee-Ann Durbin writing for the AP reported that the government is rewriting a rule that would have required all new vehicles to have tire pressure monitors.

The rule, issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in December 2001, was rejected by a federal court. The administration has decided not to appeal the ruling, spokesman Rae Tyson said Thursday.

Under the rule, all vehicles made after November 2003 would have to have dashboard lights that would warn drivers if their tire pressure was low.

Public Citizen and other consumer groups sued the federal agency, saying the rule was weak because it allowed automakers to choose between cheaper "indirect" monitors that work off the antilock braking system, or more accurate "direct" systems that have monitors in each wheel.

Last month, a federal appeals court in New York agreed and threw out the rule.

Thetraffic safety administration sent letters to automakers and tire manufacturers this week asking them to detail their progress on installing tire pressure monitors. Responses are due Oct. 17 and the agency is expected to write a new rule after that.

"This is the next step in finding an alternative approach," Tyson said.

Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook said she is pleased the agency won't appeal.

"I'm anxious to see how they're going to fix the rule to make sure that it achieves the congressional purpose," she said. Congress demanded the installation of tire monitors after a massive recall of Firestone tires in 2000.

The Rubber Manufacturers Association said it supports either indirect or direct systems as long as the monitors warn drivers early enough. Spokesman Dan Zielinksi said under the old rule drivers wouldn't have been warned until tire pressure was dangerously low.