Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for a ruling of inconsequential noncompliance.
In Cooper’s notice filed in the May 22 Federal Register, the company said that it believes the noncompliance of 83,343 tires is inconsequential because the absence of a single treadwear indicator has no real effect on tire or vehicle safety. The tires, Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ Load Range D tubeless radials, size LT315/70R17, manufactured between Jan. 28, 2006 and Oct. 31, 2013, were found to have only five treadwear indicators instead of the required six.
Federal tire safety standards mandate that at least six treadwear indicators should be spaced equally along each tire. According to Cooper’s statements in the notice, the tread indicators are easy to find: “In fact, when the vehicle is parked, only a small portion of the tread surface is not visible.”
NHTSA is requesting comments on Cooper’s petition with a deadline of June 23.
