>From Automotive News
Matt Murray
Automakers, tiremakers step up attacks on new tire rules
Reuters / June 05, 2002
DETROIT - Automakers and tiremakers stepped up their opposition
to strict new federal standards for tire safety on Wednesday,
saying the rules would force changes in roughly 45 percent of all
tires sold and cost tire makers at least $1.5 billion.
The outcry came in response to proposals by the U.S. National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration for tire testing, spurred
by the Firestone tire crisis and a new federal law.
The agency says while about one-third of the 287 million tires
sold in the United States every year might have to be redesigned,
the new rules could save 27 lives and prevent 667 injuries a year
from crashes caused by blowouts or other tire failures.
It also estimates the standards would cost the tire industry $282
million annually, or about $7.2 million per life saved.
But the Rubber Manufacturers Association, the lobbying group
representing 120 companies including all major domestic
tiremakers, says NHTSA's estimates are "grossly inaccurate." It
contends complying with the rules would cost $1.5 billion in the
first year and about $400 million a year after that.
The association also estimates that as many as 42 percent of
passenger car tires and as many as 54 percent of truck tires
would fail the new tests. And it contends only about one in every
1 million tires are cited as the cause of an accident, and most
of those are failures from punctures or road hazards.
"It is obvious there is no relationship between the failure rates
to NHTSA's proposed new test standard and to the actual
real-world tire safety performance," the association said in a
filing.
In its response to the proposals, General Motors argued in a
separate statement on Wednesday that the agency's cost estimates
don't account for the changes automakers would have to make to
accommodate the rules. GM, the world's largest automaker,
estimated about 22 percent of its cars and 6 percent of its
trucks would not meet the new standards.
GAS GUZZLING TIRES?
To meet the standards, GM says it would have to test the new
tires, change calibrations for antilock brakes and other
electronic systems, and in some cases might have to redesign
vehicles.
It also warns that the new tires would also lead to a "dramatic"
decrease in fuel economy, because their rolling resistance would
increase.
"There is no safety justification for the tire selection
amendments ... and no objective evidence that they will yield any
safety benefit," GM said.
GM and the tiremakers say regardless of what rules NHTSA finally
proposes, they should be delayed for several years to give
companies time to meet the tests. GM also suggested that NHTSA
consider more modest proposals, such as requiring service
stations to have accurate tire gauges and working air pumps.
NHTSA had been scheduled to issue its new rules by June 1, but
extended the time for comments to Wednesday and has yet to set a
new date for the rules.
The 271 deaths and more than 800 injuries linked to tread
separation and other failures of tires made by Bridgestone
Corp.'s Firestone unit, mostly on Ford Explorer sport-utilities,
spurred Congress to order a rewrite of federal tire standards
that have not changed since 1967.
The Firestone tires were found to have manufacturing defects that
left them susceptible to losing their tread, especially at high
temperatures.
Copyright 2002 Reuters Limited.
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