White House Unveils Plans to Promote Tire Care, Efficiency

The Obama administration is touting two initiatives to coax U.S. consumers to take better care of their cars' tires and urge them to eventually replace those tires with more efficient units.

The latter plan would add an efficiency label to new tires that indicates their relative impact on fuel economy. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx aims to implement the standard by 2017.

DOT figures motorists could save $80 per year by switching to tires with 10% lower rolling resistance. It also notes that many car owners inadvertently replace their vehicles' already-efficient original-equipment rubber with less efficient aftermarket tires.

Separately, the White House is promoting January as Tire Safety Awareness Month in an effort to educate consumers about the safety benefits of proper tire care. DOT says roughly 11,000 crashes per year are tire related.

The safety awareness initiative expands on the informational TireWise Web site DOT launched in May. The broader program will include educational activities by NASCAR, seven tiremakers, three tire retail operations, two energy companies and the Rubber Manufacturers Assn.