E. Tires - Comments

I have just a few comments on this... 1. I'm not an engineer, so I won't comment on the test procedures or data shown here. But I think it's unnecessary to test bias belted and diagonal bias ply tires. 99% of the tires sold today are radial tires. Make the standards specifically for radial tires and make them as stringent as possible. If you change the standards for bias belted tires, do it for trailer tires, the only substantial segment of the market where bias ply still prevail (and one where there is a great deal of tire seperation problems). 2. NHTSA is missing the boat when it comes to the real safety issue with today's tires. Blowouts will occur for a variety of reasons and occasionally people will get hurt or killed. But for much of the US population, the real danger lies in cheap tires that give inadequate traction under poor weather conditions. The American public has been hoodwinked into thinking that "All-Season" tires are adequate for year round use. Yet, untold thouosands of people die every year from auto accidents where a driver was unable to stop quickly enough in poor weather. Think of all the drivers on the road who bought 35,000 mile "4 for $99" tires. How many of them realize that how poor the traction and handling of these tires are? There are millions of these tires on the road, and they many not blow out, but their poor traction and handling will result in thousands of accidents and deaths. This is the real Dirty Little Secret of the tire industry that nobody is talking about. If you really want to upgrade the FMVSS #109, let's get some decent standards for traction and handling in poor weather. Sincerely, Steven M. Leffler President, eTires.com