Nevada legislators are taking a page out of the California playbook, drawing up a bill that would require vehicle service centers, smog inspection stations and quick lube shops to check the inflation pressure of their customers’ vehicles.

“It’s good for safety, and it saves gas and reduces air pollution,” said Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas. It is his Subcommittee on the Production and Use of Energy that voted to draft the inflation pressure bill and put it on the 2011 legislative docket.

Some legislators voted for the bill but questioned why they need to legislate common sense, according to news reports.

In hearings on the proposed bill, Schneider cited federal statistics on underinflated tires causing accidents and contributing to accidents in which people are killed. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, he said, 25% of cars and 30% of trucks had one or more tires underinflated by 8 psi or more in 2007.