USTMA urges NHTSA to remove UTQG, old tyre laws

The US Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) is urging the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to cut what it described as “outdated, unnecessary or ineffective” federal tyre regulations.

Anne Forristall Luke, USTMA president and CEO, said: “Our recommendations are aimed at modernizing regulations that apply to tire performance testing and ratings, some of which are 50 years old. The tyres being manufactured today by USTMA members are far more highly engineered than those of decades ago, and the regulatory framework needs to evolve, too.”

Luke continued: “Many of these existing rules apply to tyre technology that has long been outdated, don’t provide consumers with meaningful information and even in some cases could unwittingly stifle innovation.”

Regulations targeted for elimination include a bead unseat test, a strength test, the Uniform Tire Quality Grading (UTQG) system and several tyre sidewall and label markings.

Both the bead unseat test and strength test are 50-year-old procedures designed for bias-ply tyre technology that is no longer used in passenger and light truck tyres, the USTMA said.

The UTQG system rates tyres for temperature, traction and tread wear, and requires the ratings to be moulded onto tyre sidewalls.