WASHINGTON (Jan. 25, 2008) — March 24 is the deadline for interested parties to comment on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration´s proposed rule allowing electronic tire registration as well as the long-specified paper registration forms.
"We believe that if electronic registration were accommodated, the response rate for purchasers may increase," the agency said, endorsing the long-stated views of the Rubber Manufacturers Association. The RMA has been looking at ways to increase tire registration for a number of years, said a spokesman for the association in expressing its approval of the proposed rule.
The Tire Industry Association also likes its first view of the proposal, particularly its acknowledgment that tire dealers should not have to give consumers paper registration forms if they voluntarily use electronic registration, said Paul Fiore, TIA director of government and business affairs.
The proposal also allows tire manufacturers to continue to designate third parties to serve as clearinghouses for registration information. Paul Kruder, president of Akron-based tire registration firm CIMS Inc., could not immediately be reached for comment. CIMS was the only organization in the preliminary comment period to object to changing the current paper-based system.