NHTSA Study Demonstrates Effectiveness of Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued survey results on the effectiveness of tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS). The technical report analyzes a sampling of data collected from tires mounted on model-year ’04–’07 vehicles. The survey found that 23.1% of the vehicles without a TPMS had at least one severely underinflated tire (25% or more below the recommended cold tire pressure). Only 11.8% of TPMS-equipped vehicles had an underinflated tire. The percentage dropped even further, to just 5.7%, for a sampling of model-year ’08–’11 vehicles. The NHTSA also estimates that its TPMS rule saved $511 million in 2011 in reduced fuel consumption as a result of more properly inflated tires. A copy of the report is now available.
For more information, please contact Stuart Gosswein at stuartg@sema.org.