Graham Rejects Tire Safety Standard

Using his review authority as administrator of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), John Graham rejected a rule from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that would have required automakers, by 2007, to install a system in all cars that would alert drivers when their tires are under-inflated. Following the recall of 10 million Firestone tires, Congress ordered the agency to mandate a tire-pressure indicator in new cars. Investigators in the Firestone case found that under-inflated tires were a possible cause of the tire failure, which resulted in 271 deaths. In response, NHTSA proposed putting a pressure sensor in each tire, which would alert the driver through a dashboard indicator. Graham, however, found this solution lacking. Instead, he argued that NHTSA should allow a cheaper "indirect" system, favored by automobile manufacturers, which works with anti-lock brakes to measure the rotational difference between the tires, determining whether the speed is slower for any one tire; unlike the "direct" system proposed by NHTSA, this would not inform the driver which tire was under-inflated, and likely would not be as reliable. Nonetheless, Graham argues that allowing such an indirect system would actually be safer because it would serve as an incentive for manufacturers to install anti-lock brakes, which are thought to be safer than other brake systems but are not required. Indeed, in his letter to NHTSA, Graham expressed concern that manufacturers will actually stop putting in anti-lock brake systems in order to offset costs incurred from having to install direct tire pressure monitoring systems. If Graham is so concerned about the need for anti-lock brakes, and the farfetched possibility that manufacturers may abandon them in the face of this new tire pressure requirement, then perhaps the solution is to require anti-lock brakes as well. Graham indicated to the Washington Post that this is a possibility OIRA is looking at -- which is, itself, notable, since one would think such a regulation would fall within NHTSA's domain -- but it is unclear whether even this would change his feelings on a direct tire pressure standard. See related articles in the "http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7398-2002Feb13.html">Washington Post, New York Times, and Boston Globe.
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