Tire Labeling - NHTSA | National Highway Traffic Safety …

1 Wednesday,December 19, 2001 Part IIDepartment ofTransportationNational Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration49 CFR Parts 567, 571, 574, and 575 Tire Safety Information; Proposed RuleVerDate 11<MAY>2000 16:07 Dec 18, 2001 Jkt 197001 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4717 Sfmt 4717 E:\FR\FM\ pfrm01 PsN: 19 DEP265536 Federal Register/ Vol. 66, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 19, 2001 / Proposed RulesDEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATIONN ational Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration49 CFR Parts 567, 571, 574 and 575[Docket No. NHTSA 01 11157]RIN 2127 AI32 Tire Safety InformationAGENCY: National Highway TrafficSafety Administration ( NHTSA ),Department of : Notice of proposed rulemaking(NPRM).SUMMARY: In response to theTransportation Recall Enhancement,Accountability, and Documentation(TREAD) Act of 2000, this documentproposes to establish a new FederalMotor Vehicle Safety Standard thatcontains provisions to improve thelabeling of tires to assist consumers inidentifying tires that may be the subjectof a Safety recall.

2 It also containsproposals for providing other consumerinformation to increase publicawareness of the importance andmethods of observing motor vehicle tireload limits and maintaining proper tireinflation levels for the safe operation ofa motor vehicle. The proposals wouldapply to all new and retreaded tires foruse on vehicles with a gross vehicleweight rating of 10,000 pounds or lessand to all vehicles with a gross vehicleweight rating of 10,000 pounds or less,except for motorcycles and low speedvehicles. NHTSA will also be proposingupgraded Safety performancerequirements for tires in a forthcomingproposal, which would also be includedin this new : Written comments may besubmitted to this agency and must bereceived by February 19, : You may submit yourcomments in writing to: DocketManagement, Room PL 401, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC,20590. Alternatively, you may submityour comments electronically by loggingonto the Docket Management Systemwebsite at Click on Help & Information or Help/Info toview instructions for filing yourcomments electronically.

3 Regardless ofhow you submit your comments, youshould mention the docket number ofthis FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fortechnical and policy issues: Mr. RogerKurrus, Office of Planning andConsumer Programs. Telephone: (202)366 2750. Fax: (202) 493 2290. Scott, Office of Crash AvoidanceStandards, Telephone: (202) 366 : (202) 366 legal issues: Nancy Bell, AttorneyAdvisor, Office of the Chief Counsel,NCC 20. Telephone: (202) 366 : (202) 366 of these persons may be reachedat the following address: NationalHighway Traffic Safety Administration,400 Seventh Street, SW., WashingtonDC INFORMATION:Table of ContentsI. Executive SummaryII. BackgroundIII. Existing Labeling RequirementsA. GenerallyB. Tire Identification Number (TIN)C. Other LabelingIV. Current Safety Problem Inadequacy ofExisting Labeling RequirementsA. Difficulty Locating the TINB. Lack of Consumer Knowledge of CorrectTire Inflation PressureC.

4 Safety Problems Associated with TiresV. Agency Response to Safety ProblemA. Prior Agency Rulemaking EffortsB. December 2000 Advanced Notice ofProposed Rulemaking (ANPRM)C. Summary of Public Comments on theANPRM1. General Consumer Knowledge andBehavior/Availability of Information toConsumers2. TIN Information a. Location b. Contentand Readability3. Other Tire Labeling Informationa. Load Ratingsb. Plies and Cord Materialc. Tread Wear Indicatord. uniform Tire quality grading System(UTQGS)e. Speed Ratingf. Run-Flat and Extended Mobility Tiresg. Retreaded Tiresh. Tire Inflation Pressurei. Dissemination of Tire Safety Informationj. Motorcycles and Trailers k. Font Heightfor Labeling Information4. Harmonization Issues5. Other CommentsD. Focus groupsVI. Agency ProposalA. Summary of ProposalB. ApplicabilityC. Proposed Labeling Requirements1. Tire Markings2. TIN3. Placard Content and Format4.

5 Placard Location5. Owner s ManualD. Other Issues1. Modification to FMVSS Nos. 110 and1202. Rim Size and Type Designation for LightTrucks and Multipurpose PassengerVehicles3. Maximum Inflation Pressure4. UTQGS5. Consumer Information Campaign6. Point-of-Sale Information7. Vehicle Certification Labels8. International Harmonization9. Organization of Tire LabelingInformationVII. Request for Comments on ParticularIssuesVIII. BenefitsIX. CostsX. Effective DateXI. Rulemaking Analyses and NoticesA. Executive Order 12866 and DOTR egulatory Policies and ProceduresB. Regulatory Flexibility ActC. National Environmental Policy ActD. Executive Order 13132 (Federalism)E. Unfunded Mandates ActF. Civil Justice ReformG. Paperwork Reduction ActH. Plain LanguageXII. Submission of CommentsXIII. Proposed Regulatory TextI. Executive SummaryThe agency is proposing to establisha new standard that would containrevisions to the agency s existing tirelabeling requirements, as well ascontain revisions to its currentregulations to improve tire informationfor light vehicles and light vehicle tiresand its availability andunderstandability to consumers.

6 Asused in this document, light vehicles are vehicles (except motorcycles andlow speed vehicles (LSVs)) with a grossvehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 10,000pounds or less. The new standard willalso contain requirements and testprocedures addressing various aspectsof tire performance. The agency will beissuing a separate NPRM that proposesthese performance requirements andprocedures. Today s NPRM concerns thelabeling and other s proposed amendmentsaddress the following aspects of tire andvehicle Labeling : Tire markings, the TireIdentification Number (TIN), vehicleplacard content and format, placardlocation, and owner s manualinformation. The proposal would extendall passenger car Labeling requirements,including those requiring the Labeling ofcombined occupant and cargo weightcapacity and designated seatingpositions, to light trucks andmultipurpose passenger vehicles(MPVs) with a GVWR or 10,000 poundsor less.

7 The proposal is substantiallybased on NHTSA s activities undertakenin response to the Transportation RecallEnhancement, Accountability, andDocumentation (TREAD) Act of 2000,including publication of an ANPRM,consideration of comments in responseto the ANPRM, data gathering andanalysis, and NHTSA sponsored proposes that the TIN, sizedesignation, maximum permissibleinflation pressure, and maximum loadrating be placed on both sides of lightvehicle tires. The Firestone tire recallslast year highlighted the difficulty thatVerDate 11<MAY>2000 16:07 Dec 18, 2001 Jkt 197001 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\ pfrm01 PsN: 19 DEP265537 Federal Register/ Vol. 66, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 19, 2001 / Proposed Rules1 FMVSS No. 120 currently requires that eachmotor vehicle other than a passenger car show, onthe label required by , or on a tireinformation label ( (b)), the recommended tiresize designation appropriate for the GAWR, the tiresize and type designation of rims appropriate forthose tires, and the recommended cold inflationpressure for those tires such that the sum of theload ratings on the tires on each axle (when thetire s load carrying capacity at the specifiedpressure is reduced by dividing , in the case ofa tire subject to FMVSS No.)

8 109, , a passengercar tire) is appropriate for the (a) Vehicle capacity weight expressed as THECOMBINED WEIGHT OF OCCUPANTS ANDCARGO SHOULD NEVER EXCEED XXX POUNDS ;(b) Designated seating capacity (expressed interms of total number of occupants and in terms ofoccupant for each seat location);(c) Vehicle manufacturer s recommended coldtire inflation pressure;(d) Tire size designation for the tire installed asoriginal equipment on the vehicle by the vehiclemanufacturer; and(e) SEE OWNER S MANUAL FOR ADDITIONALINFORMATION .consumers have in determining whethera tire is subject to a recall when the tireis mounted so that the sidewall bearingthe TIN and size designation facesinward, , underneath the the TIN and size designationto be on both sides would ensure thatthat information would be on thesidewall facing outward, regardless ofhow the tire is mounted. Requiring thatthe other items of information be onboth sidewalls would aid consumers inmaintaining their tires and loading is proposing two changes tothe TIN.

9 First, the agency proposes torequire a re-ordering of information inthe TIN so that the first six characterswould contain the information requiredfor determining whether a particular tireis subject to a recall. The first twocharacters would reflect the plant code,and the next four characters wouldreflect the date code. Second, the agencyproposes to require that each characterbe 6 mm (1 4 ) high. The agency believesthat a requirement for a uniform TINfont size would significantly improvethe readability of the agency proposes four sets ofrevisions for the presentation of tireinflation pressure and load limitinformation on the vehicle placardcurrently required for passenger cars of and to be required forall light vehicles with a GVWR of 10,000pounds or less under this placard, permanently affixed to theglove compartment door or an equallyaccessible location, currently displaysthe vehicle capacity weight, thedesignated seating capacity (expressedin terms of total number of occupantsand in terms of occupants for each seatlocation)

10 , the vehicle manufacturer srecommended cold tire inflationpressure for maximum loaded vehicleweight, and the manufacturer srecommended tire size , the agency proposes that tireinflation pressure information would bevisually separated by a red coloredborder on the vehicle placard or,alternatively, be placed on a separatetire inflation pressure label. The vehicleplacard would contain only theinformation required by the proposedinformation specified in the proposedversion of (paragraphs (a) (e)).2 This information would not becombined with other Labeling orcertification requirements. The vehicleplacard would also meet the proposedcolor and content requirements asdiscussed , the agency also proposes thatthe tire inflation pressure label andvehicle placard meet the following threerequirements: (1) The tire inflationpressure information on the placardswould be in color red, yellow, andblack on a white background, (2)contain a black and white tire symbolicon in the upper left corner of theplacards, 13 millimeters (.)