B.C. Firm Supports NHTSA Tire Safety Studies

SmarTire Systems Inc. of Vancouver, B.C., has confirmed that it is supporting the various task forces that are formulating a new tire safety standard.
Standards are being developed through a Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Recommended Practice Document for tire monitoring that will assist the U.S. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHSTA) in defining new tire safety standards.
SmarTire, which manufactures tire pressure monitoring devices, is on record with NHTSA as advocating direct pressure and temperature measurement approaches to tire monitoring as being the best suited to achieve the goal of improving tire pressure maintenance while also providing a timely warning when tires are under-inflated.
Since 1999, John Bolegoh, SmarTire’s technical services manager has provided technical information and written documentation to this U.S. government agency. The rulemaking for the amendments to the Transportation Recall Enhancement Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act is to be completed by November 2001.
“During the past year, the automotive industry has been forced to re-evaluate tire safety. In accordance with the TREAD Act, we believe direct pressure and temperature measurement technology to be the superior approach and we encourage that it be adopted by the industry,” said Robert Rudman, president and chief executive of SmarTire Systems, Inc.
SmarTire currently manufactures a range of tire pressure monitoring products for use at the OE level as well as the aftermarket.