Underinflated tires increase accident risk, NHTSA study shows

qiangzi

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Washington, D.C. - A new study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finds that vehicles with underinflated tires are three times more likely to be involved in an accident linked to tire problems than those with tires inflated to the correct pressure, according to The Detroit News. The study looked at crash data from 2005 to 2007, the last year before all cars in the U.S. were equipped with mandatory tire pressure monitors. According to the report, only about 5 percent of accidents during the period involved tire problems, but 66 percent of those were passenger cars. A previous NHTSA study found that just 43 percent of vehicles on the road have properly inflated tires, but that number jumps to 57 percent among vehicles fitted with monitoring systems.