Interpretation ID: nht75-6.14

DATE: 08/19/75

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Frank A. Berndt; NHTSA

TO: South Texas Tire Test Fleet

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is to confirm your telephone conversation of July 31, 1975, with Mark Schwimmer concerning the treadwear test procedures specified in 49 CFR Part 575.104, Uniform Tire Quality Grading Standards (UTQGS).

You had previously pointed out that the A78-13 and other tires are available neither as original equipment nor as recommended replacement options on any 1975 model passenger cars, although they are available as replacement options for the 1974 Ford Pinto. You had asked whether it is permissible for a tire manufacturer to conduct treadwear testing for such tires on a 1975 Pinto, in light of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) statement that

tires will be tested for compliance only on vehicles for which they are available as original equipment or recommended replacement options. (40 FR 23076, May 28, 1975)

As Mr. Schwimmer explained to you, the UTQGS rules does not dictate the method by which a tire manufacturer must conduct his testing to assign grades. It merely specifies the procedures which the NHTSA will follow when testing tires for compliance with the rule. While the surest way for the tire manufacturer to be confident of compliance would be to follow these procedures in every detail, he is not legally obligated to do so. His obligation is simply to ensure that, when tested by the NHTSA according to the specified procedures, his tires are capable of achieving the grades which he has assigned to them. He may fulfill this obligation by whatever means he believes reliable and necessary. Thus, for example, he might choose a 1975 Pinto to test an A78-13 tire, if he is confident that the model year change in the Pinto will have no effect on the tire's treadwear performance. This decision is his, however. The NHTSA, in its compliance testing, would test such a tire on a 1974 Pinto or on some other passenger car for which it is original equipment or a recommended replacement option.