Automakers in the US will have to equip cars and light trucks with tire-pressure monitoring equipment under a new rule to help prevent accidents caused by underinflated tires.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration rule gives automakers compliance options for the first three years on models built after Nov. 1, 2003, after the companies opposed more stringent measures. Automakers may install equipment to warn drivers when pressure on one or more tires is 25 percent underinflated, or when one tire needs 30 percent more pressure.
Automakers have opposed some tire-monitoring rules for years, consumer advocates said. The new rule was passed after 271 highway deaths were linked to tread separations of Bridgestone/Firestone Inc tires, mostly on Ford Motor Co Explorer sport-utility vehicles.
"The new tire rule is a fraud on consumers," said Joan Claybrook, president of the advocacy group Public Citizen and a former NHTSA administrator. Claybrook said the group plans to sue to block the move, which she called "a political decision on the part of the White House on behalf of the auto industry."
The rule fails to meet statutory requirements such as including devices to measure pressure on all tires, she said.
Automakers said the move makes practical sense.
"We welcome the flexibility given in the final rule," said Rob Strassburger, vice president of vehicle safety for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, whose members build 90 percent of US-sold vehicles. "NHTSA was responsive to the underlying facts and science and took appropriate action."
About 27 percent of car tires and 33 percent of light-truck tires need more air, and 124 deaths and 8,722 injuries a year may be prevented with monitors on every tire, NHTSA estimates.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
RSS