For any time you travel on a road trip, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stresses in its video the purpose and function of the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) required in all vehicles made after 2007. Current NHTSA data indicates that only 19% of consumers properly check and inflate their tires and that one in four vehicles have at least one tire that’s significantly under-inflated at any time. It contends that addressing those factors is critical to helping reduce the nearly 11,000 tire-related crashes that occur in the U.S. each year.
Along with stressing the need for drivers to pay attention to any TPMS warnings that may appear on the dash display and to keep their tires properly inflated at all times, NHTSA also points out the importance of regular visual inspections of tires on any vehicle to check for other potential problems that the TPMS doesn’t cover. These include low tread depth, uneven wear patterns, and damage to the bead area or sidewalls. Equally important, the TPMS sensors should also be checked whenever regular servicing is done to ensure they are functioning properly.
More comprehensive information on all aspects of tire safety can be found in the TireWise section of the www.safercar.gov website.
