March 11, 2016—The Tire Industry Association (TIA) submitted comments Thursday to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) and asked the public to comment on updating Means of Providing Notification and improving Efficacy of Recalls.
The TIA convinced Congress to add SEC. 24334 to SEC. 24333 of the recently passed FAST Act that reinstated mandatory tire registration. SEC. 24334 would require the Secretary to conduct a study to examine the feasibility of requiring tire manufacturers to include electronic identification on every tire for information currently in the tire identification number (TIN).
The TIA suggested that the TINs could be automatically recorded in a database and linked to the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to reduce human error. In the event of a tire recall, it the TIA says it would be easier to find and notify the most current registered owner. The TIA refers to this concept as “TIN to VIN”.
The TIA also suggested annual vehicle inspections be reinstated in every state to more easily inspect tires to determine if any were subject to recall.
"Although the Association remains disappointed that the political system enabled mandatory tire registration to become law at some point in the future, we are totally focused on making sure the emphasis stays on recall recovery," said Roy Littlefield, TIA executive vice president. "While we recognize that tire registration is important, the primary goal must be to remove defective tires from the highway. TIA is confident that electronic identification is the first step towards that goal."
