[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 57 (Thursday, April 29, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4677-S4678]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       NATIONAL TIRE SAFETY WEEK

  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I wanted to take the opportunity today to 
recognize the importance of tire safety during National Tire Safety 
Week. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on 
Competition, Foreign Commerce, and Infrastructure, which I chair, has 
jurisdiction over the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 
As such, I am keenly aware of the devastation caused each year on our 
Nation's highways due to automobile accidents.
  The National Tire Safety Week, created by the Rubber Manufacturers 
Association, is now in its third year, and one of a number of their 
public outreach campaigns designed to focus our efforts on a key issue 
for all of us: tire safety.
  Tires are clearly a core component of an automobile and a key aspect 
to ensuring the safety of the occupant. When you stop to think about 
it, there is only a small patch of rubber on each tire that meets the 
road at any given moment. That small patch of rubber is responsible for 
ensuring the automobile maintains control on the roadway. This function 
must be maintained no matter what weather conditions exist hot or cold, 
wet or dry, snowy and icy. Tires are an amazing and highly technical 
feature of an automobile that is often taken for granted.
  Just like changing your oil regularly, tires must also be routinely 
cared for and inspected in order to maintain their safety. 
Unfortunately, many drivers unwittingly neglect their tires. That is 
why National Tire Safety Week provides us all with a crucial reminder 
to do the simple things to ensure that our tires are safe.
  The result of unsafe tires is simply devastating. Tire blowouts and 
hydroplaning cause a driver to lose control of the vehicle, which 
careens out of control, often smashing into other vehicles or flipping 
over. Tragically, just 3 weeks ago in a small farming community in 
southern Oregon, a family of five ranging in age from 2 years to 60 
years old was killed instantly when the rear tire of their van blew out 
and the van veered into the path of an oncoming pickup truck. The 
family was on a last minute outing to gather Easter supplies for their 
church.
  We don't yet know why the tire blew out. It could have been 
underinflated. Or perhaps the tread was wearing low or uneven and it 
was more easily punctured by a sharp object in the road. The bigger 
question that we need to address now is, could this accident and tragic 
loss of life have been avoided? Possibly.
  With this in mind, I would like to highlight a small Oregon company, 
Smart Tread, LLC, who has developed a simple visual tread wear 
identification system. The Smart Tread proposal advocates for an 
improved visual identification system that would help consumers better 
understand when their tires are safe and when they are not. One such 
approach would use color directly in the tire tread turning yellow and/
or red when a tire tread reaches a depth like 2/32 of an inch that is 
no longer safe and is the legal definition of a bald tire. This system 
will provide early warnings of a car that is out of alignment or 
running on overinflated or underinflated tires.
  It is my hope that industry and consumers will see the benefit of 
this tread wear identification system that Smart Tread has developed. 
We need to continue to improve the safety of tires to prevent 
unanticipated automobile accidents and deaths. Again, I thank the tire 
manufacturers for all their efforts and continuing to address this 
important issue.

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