NHTSA's proposed rule would improve mandtory tire registration by allowing tire dealers to electronically register tires at the point of sale via the Internet.

The U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy (Advocacy) today announced its support of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Proposed Tire Registration and Recordkeeping Rule - See printable version of Rule 72 Fed. Reg. 4157. NHTSA's proposed rule would allow for the Internet registration of tires that consumers purchase.

The proposed rule would reduce costs and recordkeeping requirements for small tire dealers as well as improve registration rates so that consumers get notified of tire safety recalls.

In order to be able to notify consumers of tire safety recalls, Congress mandated that every tire manufacturer maintain records of the names and addresses of the first purchasers of tires that the manufacturer produces. In accordance with that mandate, NHTSA established a tire registry program that required all tire dealers to record the name and address of the purchaser of the tire, along with the dealer's name and address, and forward that information to the tire manufacturer. However, Congress later excluded independent tire dealers from some provisions of the rule, requiring only that they give the consumer a tire registration card that the consumer could complete and mail back to the manufacturer. The regulation mandated the exact content of the card as well as its specific size and dimensions. In 2000, Congress increased the record retention requirements on tire manufacturers from three to five years.

While the tire registration program has been successful in some respects, it has failed to take advantage of the Internet and other electronic technologies to register tires, which has resulted in low tire registration rates. As a result, tire dealers have been saddled with burdensome paperwork requirements and many consumers have not received timely tire safety recall information. NHTSA’s proposed rule would improve this situation by specifically allowing tire dealers to electronically transmit tire registry information to the manufacturer via the Internet.

NHTSA's proposed rule would improve this situation by specifically allowing tire dealers to electronically register tires at the point of sale and transmit the consumer's information to the manufacturer via the Internet. The proposed rule is supported by small automobile and tire dealers.