Weakened tire rules greatly affect independent dealers

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - Decades ago, all dealers were required to register new tire purchases with the manufacturer.

But Congress weakened the requirement in 1982, allowing independent dealers to instead give the customer a registration form containing the tire ID numbers and leaving it up to the customer to register them.

At the time, committee reports noted that independent dealers accounted for just over two-thirds of all domestic tire sales, while company-owned or company-controlled outlets, such as Firestone or Goodyear, had the rest.

While the company stores registered between 80 and 90 percent of the tires they sold, the rate for independents was only about 20 percent.

By 2006, the independents' rate was estimated at just half that _ one in 10 tires.

The slippage came after the National Tire Dealers & Retreaders Association campaigned for the "voluntary" tire registration by customers, which lawmakers reasoned would increase compliance.

"The whole thing was a bunch of bull," said Joan Claybrook of Public Citizen, who was head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from 1977 to 1981. "The Reagan administration came in, and the trade association wanted to show that it was doing something for its members. So they went down and lobbied like mad to get this."

By 1987, under the voluntary program, the independents' registration rate fell to 9.3 percent, NHTSA found. The company stores' rates had remained steady at 86 percent.

Even so, NHTSA said it would not be "the best use of our enforcement resources to bring compliance actions against independent tire dealers."

Last December, NHTSA issued a rule letting independents, who are more likely to be computer equipped than two decades ago, voluntarily submit tire ID numbers.

Safety advocates say that's not enough.

"It's an improvement, but it is merely a Band-Aid to an inherently outdated and flawed system," said Sean Kane of Safety Research and Strategies, a Massachusetts consulting firm.

"Think about this," Kane said. "The whole reason for the tire identification number was for recalls. But NHTSA doesn't even require manufacturers to provide the number to them (NHTSA) if there is a recall. It's completely ridiculous."

So anyone wanting to find out whether their tires are recalled would have to go through several steps, he said. First, they have to find the ID number on their tires. They then have to go to the NHTSA Web site to search for tire recalls.

But that site doesn't allow searches by the ID number _ only by the tire's make and model. So the customer then must access recall documents filed by the manufacturer to find what tire ID numbers are involved.

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NHTSA is working on a new rule to require manufacturers to submit the tire ID numbers along with their recall notices.

And while they're at it, NHTSA officials need to bring the independent tire dealers back under the same rules affecting the company stores, Claybrook said.

"Now we have computers," she said. "It's no big deal to register."

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© 2009, The Kansas City Star.