96-1654. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards

[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 30, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 2991-2992]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-1654]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 571


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Denial of petition for rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This document denies a petition for rulemaking submitted by 
Herzlich Consulting, Inc. Herzlich asked that the tire standards be 
amended to require that tires be designed to provide a visual 
indication when the tread depth reaches \3/32\ inch. Herzlich also 
asked that the agency define legal tire wear out as having \3/32\ inch 
tread depth with no bald areas. The petitioner asserted that this 
change would improve wet traction, improve antilock brake system (ABS) 
performance, result in fewer landfill scrap tires, provide a better 
supply of undamaged tire casings for retreading, and improve tire 
safety enforcement.
    NHTSA has decided to deny the Herzlich petition. The agency 
believes that there is no safety need to remove tires at \3/32\ inch, 
that more rather than fewer scrap tires would be generated if tires 
were removed sooner, that passenger car tires are not retreaded in 
sufficient numbers to compensate for the greater number of scrap tire 
casings that would result from earlier tire removal, and that 
enforcement efforts would not be greatly enhanced if tires were removed 
when tread depth reaches \3/32\ inches instead of when it reaches \2/
32\ inches.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical issues: Robert M. 
Clarke, Office of Vehicle Safety Standards, National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Room 5307, Washington, 
DC 20590; telephone [phone], facsimile [phone].
    For legal issues: Walter Myers, Office of the Chief Counsel, 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW, 
Room 5219, Washington, DC 20590; telephone [phone], facsimile 
[phone].

Background Information

Current Regulatory Requirements

    Federal motor vehicle safety standards (Standards) 109, New 
pneumatic tires (49 CFR 571.109), and 119, New pneumatic tires for 
motor vehicles other than passenger cars (49 CFR 571.119) both require 
treadwear indicators that provide visual indication when the tire has 
been worn to a tread depth of \1/16\ inch. For motorcycle tires, 
Standard No. 119 requires tread depth indicators at \1/32\ inch.
    Specifically, paragraph S4.2(d), Standard No. 109 provides that:

    If manufactured on or after August 1, 1968, [each tire] shall 
incorporate a tread wear indicator that will provide a visual 
indication that the tire has worn to a tread depth of \1/16\ inch.

    With respect to new pneumatic tires for motor vehicles other than 
passenger cars, paragraph S6.4 of Standard No. 119 provides that:

    Except as specified below, each tire shall have at least six 
treadwear indicators spaced approximately equally around the 
circumference of the tire that enable a person inspecting the tire 
to determine visually whether the tire has worn to a tread depth of 
one sixteenth of an inch. Tires with 12-inch or smaller rim diameter 
shall have at least three such treadwear indicators. Motorcycle 
tires shall have at least three such indicators which permit visual 
determination that the tire has worn to a tread depth of one-thirty-
second of an inch.

    No Federal motor vehicle safety standard requires that tires be 
removed from a vehicle at those or any other tread depths. However, 
Sec. 570.9(a) of part 570, Vehicle in use inspection standards, 
specifies that tread depth of any tire on a vehicle with a gross 
vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 10,000 pounds or less shall be not less 
than \2/32\ inches. For vehicles with a higher GVWR, Sec. 570.62(a) 
specifies a tread depth of not less than \4/32\ inches for front tires 
and not less than \2/32\ inches for all other tires. However, the 
agency has specified tread depth limits for tires on vehicles-in-use in 
its vehicle-in-use standards. Pursuant to a statutory mandate, the 
agency issued those standards for implementation by the States as part 
of their highway safety programs under 23 U.S.C. 402.

The Petition

    Pursuant to 49 CFR part 552, Herzlich Consulting, Inc., of Las 
Vegas, NV (Herzlich) petitioned NHTSA to amend the tire standards to 
require that tires be designed to provide a visual indication when the 
tread depth reaches \3/32\ inch. Herzlich also asked that the agency 
define legal tire wearout as having \3/32\ inch tread depth with no 
bald areas.
    Herzlich stated that it is a ``rule of thumb'' that approximately 
80 percent of tire road hazard failures occur in the final 20 percent 
of tread life. He asserted that tire technology must now address new 
needs that include tire interaction with ABS, decreased rolling 
resistance and improved retreading. He stated that when a tread reaches 
a depth of \2/32\ inch, it will not have sufficient tread remaining to 
meet wet skid resistance requirements. He further stated that when a 
tire reaches a tread depth of \2/32\ inch, there are already areas that 
are below that depth and some spots are even bald. In addition, 
petitioner stated that the suggested amendments would provide better 
tire safety enforcement, provide the retread industry a better supply 
of casings, and reduce environmental concerns about so many scrap tires 
in landfills. Finally, petitioner stated that because individual tire 
manufacturers cannot themselves make such changes if they want to 
remain competitive, NHTSA should, and has a unique opportunity to, 
mandate such changes.

Agency Decision

    The \2/32\ inch figure specified in Standards 109 and 199 for the 
tires for most types of vehicles is based on early studies that showed 
that tire treads essentially lose their traction capabilities at about 
\1/16\ inch. In a report entitled Skidding Accidents on Runways and 
Highways Can Be Reduced, prepared by W. B. Horne of 

[[Page 2992]]
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Langley Research 
Center for publication in the August, 1967 issue of the Journal of 
Astronautics and Aeronautics, the author stated:

    Research indicates that grooved or treaded tires behave like 
bald or smooth tires when the groove depth is decreased by wear to 
about \1/16\ inch of tread remaining.

    The same conclusion was reached in a study entitled Vehicle-in-Use 
Limit Performance and Tire Factors--The Tire In Use, prepared in March, 
1975 for NHTSA by Paul S. Fancher and James E. Bernard, report no. DOT 
HS-801 438. The report stated in pertinent part:

    Our recommendation, based on the results of this investigation * 
* *, is that tires should be replaced when they reach a groove depth 
of \2/32\ of an inch.

    Those studies, among others, confirmed a long-standing practice in 
the tire industry that tires should be replaced when the tread reached 
a depth of \1/16\ inch (the ``rule of thumb'' was to place a penny in 
the tire groove and if you could see the top of Lincoln's head, it was 
time to replace or retread the tire). NHTSA adopted the industry 
practice in specifying the treadwear indicator height in Standard Nos. 
109 and 119 at \1/16\ inch.
    Herzlich cited his own forensic experience in asserting that a 
tread depth of \2/32\ inch is inadequate to maintain effective wet skid 
resistance. However, he cited no pertinent data in support of his 
forensic experience. Further, NHTSA is unaware of any data that would 
suggest that a tread depth of \2/32\ inch is unsafe or that treadwear 
indicators should be raised.
    The petitioner asserted that tire technology must now service new 
tire needs such as ABS, but did not explain the implications of ABS 
technology and performance for tire technology and tire tread depths. 
NHTSA has issued extensive rulemaking in recent years on ABS technology 
(see e.g., final rule on heavy truck ABS, 60 FR 13216, March 10, 1995). 
Theoretically, by preventing wheel lockup, ABS should be able to 
prevent tires from ``flat spotting'' or developing bald areas, thereby 
increasing tire life. Further, based on its experience with ABS, NHTSA 
does not believe that increasing the height of the treadwear indicators 
would measurably improve any function associated with ABS.
    Petitioner also stated that tire technology must help provide 
decreased rolling resistance. Again, petitioner did not elaborate on 
this, nor provide any data to suggest that raising the treadwear 
indicators would have any effect on rolling resistance. NHTSA knows of 
no such correlation. Thus, although NHTSA agrees that tire technology 
must be responsive to new needs, the agency does not see how raising 
the treadwear indicators would contribute to the reduction of rolling 
resistance.
    Petitioner alluded to the potential for improved recycling because 
there would be fewer landfill junk tires and by providing retreaders a 
better supply of usable casings. The January 1995 issue of Modern Tire 
Dealer magazine stated that approximately 228,200,000 passenger car 
tires are shipped nationwide per year, while only 5,850,000 retreaded 
passenger car tires are shipped. Thus, if tire life were shortened by 
removing tires from vehicles before reaching a tread depth of \2/32\ 
inch, there should logically be more rather than fewer tires in 
landfills. NHTSA does not know of any data suggesting that tire casings 
are sounder for retreading purposes with \3/32\ inch tread remaining 
than those with \2/32\ inch tread remaining, or that more tires would 
be retreaded if more tread remained on the casing prior to retreading. 
Even assuming that there might be a small increase in the number of 
tires retreaded if tires had more tread remaining when they were 
retired, the agency has no data, and the petitioner provided none, on 
how many additional tires could be expected to be retreaded compared to 
the additional number of tires that would be removed and discarded upon 
reaching a tread depth of \3/32\ inch.
    In summary, NHTSA knows of no data suggesting either a safety or an 
environmental need to raise the treadwear indicators to \3/32\ inch, 
and the petitioner has presented none. Neither has the petitioner 
submitted any data to support his assertions that a tread depth of \3/
32\ inch would improve ABS wet skid interaction, provide retreaders a 
better supply of undamaged tire casings, result in fewer scrap tires in 
landfills, or that tire safety enforcement would be improved. There is 
no reasonable probability that the requested amendments would be issued 
at the end of a rulemaking proceeding. Accordingly, the petition of 
Herzlich Consulting, Inc. is denied.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, and 30162; delegation of 
authority at 49 CFR 1.50.

    Issued on January 24, 1996.
Barry Felrice,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
[FR Doc. 96-1654 Filed 1-29-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P