WASHINGTON (Nov. 8)—At least 37 highway fatalities and 35 serious injuries can be traced to accidents involving tread belt separations on aged tires, according to a vehicle safety research group.
Supplementing an earlier petition to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration advocating a tire aging regulation, SRS Inc. said "appropriate consumer information could have saved lives or prevented serious injuries."
The Rubber Manufacturers Association, however, said the data on the effect of aging on tire performance are still inadequate to frame a regulation, although it added consumers always should check the date of manufacture on any tire before buying it.