Here is a fact that many drivers take for granted:  The tires on our vehicle are designed to operate within a certain pressure range. The recommended inflation pressure is usually found in the vehicle owner’s manual and may also be located on a decal located in the glove box or door jam. However, most people look right on the tire for the indicate psi and fill their tires to that capacity.  This would be mistake number two.  Mistake number one is actually more prevalent, and it is the mistake of not checking tire pressure at all. 

Remember, the first statement was that tires are designed to operate within a certain pressure range.  The implications of not making sure to keep your vehicles tires within that range are enormous.  Not only do improperly inflated tires make for a bumpy ride, but they are also quite a safety hazard.  Tires that are underinflated will experience excessive wear on the outer edges; they will increase fuel consumption by as much as 10%; they will generate heat that could lead to a blowout and also affect your vehicles overall handling capabilities.  Tires that are underinflated will need to be replaced more frequently due to the excessive wearing.  On the other side of the spectrum are overinflated tires.  Many people believe that overinflating their vehicles tires will result in better gas mileage for their car.  Not only has this presumption been tested and proven to be incorrect; but it is also shown that overinflated tires have much less grip on the road.  When your tires are not properly grounded, you have far less chance of handling capabilities should you need to brake urgently or swerve to miss an obstacle. 

In fact, due to the high numbers of serious and fatal accidents involving vehicles with incorrect tire pressure, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has developed a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard that requires the installation of tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) on passenger cars, trucks, multipurpose passenger vehicles and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less, except those vehicles with dual wheels on an axle.

According to a survey by the Car Care Council, 54 percent of vehicles inspected during National Car Care Month were found to have improperly inflated tires. While most vehicles had low tire pressure, some were dangerously overinflated.  There could be two reasons to account for these survey results.  The most likely reason being that people just don’t check their tires regularly and do not have a vehicle in which the manufacturer installed a TPMS.  The other reason could be that drivers who do not have a built in TPMS are using their own store bought tire gauge, or worse yet, the tire gauge at the local gas station.

Since it wasn’t until 2008 that TPMS became required by law, there are many vehicles on the road that do not have a warning for tire pressure.  In such instances, a driver can install their own tire pressure monitoring system.  One type of monitoring system is quite affordable, but still requires the driver to visually inspect tires for a reading.  There is no electronic warning light.  This type of after market TPMS is made with simple spring-loaded “safety caps” that fit on the existing valve stems. The safety caps have windows that show a color indicator inside. Green means the tires are okay (30 to 32 psi), yellow shows if pressure drops four pounds, and red shows if pressure drops 10 or more pounds.  While this may not be the ultimate system to install on your vehicle, it certainly takes some amount of guesswork out of the tire pressure equation.

Have you ever noticed a vehicle on the road that is running on underinflated tires?  Did you think twice about it when you noticed?  It’s important for all drivers to understand the importance of maintaining their vehicles tire pressure because this is actually a very large safety issue.  We all think to check our gas gauge when we get in the car to drive somewhere.  No one likes getting stuck on the road.  But the tires on our vehicle, or more importantly, the tire pressure on our vehicle, is just as vitally important.

Underinflated and overinflated tires each have a negative impact on a vehicles performance; both are conditions which put both you and other drivers in danger if not noticed and corrected.  It is because of the safety concerns related to a vehicles tire pressure that the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has developed a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard that requires the installation of tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) on passenger cars, trucks, multipurpose passenger vehicles and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less, except those vehicles with dual wheels on an axle.  A tire pressure monitoring system warns the driver when a tire is significantly underinflated.

How do you know if your car already has a tire pressure monitoring system installed?  You can check the owner’s manual to find such information.  If you do not have the owner’s manual for your vehicle, you could pay a visit to your local dealership for your make of car and obtain the information from them.  At this point, auto makers are required by law to install tire pressure monitoring systems in all vehicles made.  They are given two options in which to provide a warning system to drivers.  The first option is to install a direct tire pressure monitoring system.  This type of system uses pressure sensors located on each wheel to directly measure the pressure in each tire.  Should any tire drop at least 25% below the recommended inflation pressure for that vehicle, a warning light is displayed on the dash.   The other option car makers have is to install an indirect tire pressure monitoring system.  This type of system warns the driver when a single tire has lost at least 25% of its inflation pressure compared to other tires on the vehicle.   While any system is better than no tire pressure monitoring system at all, a direct monitoring system is much more reliable than an indirect system.

Reports have indicated that an abundance of serious accidents resulting in injury or even death have been caused by improper tire pressure.  It is for this reason that technology has been put into place in newer vehicles in order to read tire pressure for a driver.  However, drivers should not become overconfident because tire pressure monitoring technology is in place in their vehicle.  Anytime you plan to hit the road for a long trip you should check the air pressure in each of your tires.  Additionally, you should check the air pressure in your tires once a month even if you only drive your car locally.

Having the right tire pressure is essential to safe driving.  Not only does tire pressure have an impact on your vehicle’s fuel efficiency and the comfort level you feel when driving your car; but making sure your vehicle also has good tire pressure is the best way to ensure safe driving both on city streets and highways.

Why is tire pressure almost as important as functional brakes on a vehicle?  Tires that have been overfilled with air don’t have enough contact with the road to offer a safe and comfortable drive.  Overfilled tires will produce a bumpier ride and will lessen stopping distances, something that could result in a nasty accident.  Underfilled tires at the very least will experience more wear and tear than those with the right amount of tire pressure.  If your vehicle’s tires need air, you will hear a squealing when you turn corners. 

Checking tire pressure is something that should be performed on a regular basis, as things such as temperature can change the pressure found in your vehicle’s tires.  The colder it gets, the less pressure that will be in your tires.  This means that at the very least you should check your tires at the turn of seasons.  Information is power, especially when it comes to keeping yourself safe on the road. 

Many newer cars come equipped with TPMS, or tire pressure monitoring systems.  These systems work to regularly read the pressure in your tires and alert you in real time when tires need adjustments in air pressure.  Oftentimes an alert comes in the form of a warning light on your cars electronic display.  TPMS come in direct and indirect types.  Direct TPMS employ physical pressure sensors on each tire, and a means of processing and sending that information from inside the tire to the vehicle’s instrument cluster where the result will then alert the driver.  Indirect TPMS do not use physical pressure sensors.  Instead, the system works by monitoring individual wheel rotational speeds, and other signals available outside the tire itself. 

Due to the fact that indirect TPMS does not utilize a sensor directly in each tire, it is not as reliable as a direct TPMS.  With an indirect system, one tire that does not have the correct amount of pressure could be missed in a reading.  And when checking tire pressure, it is important to have an accurate read on each and every tire on the vehicle.  Just because two or even three of your vehicle’s tires have the right amount of air doesn’t mean they all will. 

Several organizations have studied vehicle accidents and have reported that a high percentage of accidents involving injury or fatalities are caused by underinflated tires.  For this reason, the United States Federal Government has mandated that vehicles should utilize TPMS that warns a driver when a tire is underinflated by 25%. 

If you own a vehicle that does not have TPMS installed by the car manufacturer, checking your tire pressure is something you can do regularly through the use of  reliable tire pressure gauges.  Safety on the road goes beyond maintaining safe speeds; it includes maintaining your vehicle for proper function.

Results of surveys and studies have shown that many individuals are driving vehicles that have too little air pressure.  The estimate is that one in every four vehicles is being driven with tires that are underinflated, a mistake that could prove to be quite costly.  Driving a vehicle that does not utilize a tire pressure monitoring system, also called TPMS, means that you are needlessly sacrificing fuel economy and providing yourself with a bumpy ride.  This is on the lesser side of things.  On the costly side you are affecting your vehicles handling and performance, using more fuel than necessary, and significantly reducing your tires’ tread life.  With the costs of fuel and products at an all time high, you have every reason to maintain the proper range of tire pressure in your vehicles tires.

To sweeten the pot and really hit home the ultimate importance of a car’s tire pressure sensors being present and in good working condition let’s look at some statistics.  Back in 2006, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that underinflated tires resulted in 300,000 accidents per year in American alone.  Many of these accidents resulted in serious injury or death.  Your family is far too precious to ride in a vehicle that does not employ the data collection of a serious tire pressure sensor.

At this time, tire pressure maintenance has taken center stage as an important safety issue throughout the auto industry.  In 2008, legislation was passed mandating tire pressure monitoring systems be installed in all new cars.  The purpose of tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) is to warn the driver if any tire deflates to 25% below the recommended pressure.  While there are vehicles on the road that carry TPMS that read accurately through a direct method (where a sensor is located directly in or on each tire), some car manufacturers take the cost effective road and install indirect sensor methods that are not as reliable.  Indirect systems collect data from wheel speed sensors instead of reading straight pressure.

Where does this leave you as an individual who wants to be a safe driver?  If your vehicle was manufactured before the tire pressure law came about in 2008, all is not lost.  There are ways to keep tabs on your vehicles tire pressure even if your car was not manufactured with a tire pressure monitoring system.  After market tire pressure sensors can be easily installed and ensure the safety of you and your family while you are on the road.  

Even if you are to install an after market tire sensor on each of your vehicles tires, it is important to continually check with a reliable gauge (the gauge at the local gas station does not count) just to make sure you are receiving accurate readings.  As the temperature changes with the seasons, the air inside of your tires also changes.  These changes affect air pressure within your vehicles tires, sometimes significantly.  Depending on the type of tire pressure monitoring system you have installed, you may have to reset the base pressure when there has been a change in the weather.  Working with your tire pressure sensor is not difficult and can be helped along with instructions from the manufacturer.

Helping to Maintain Proper Contact with the Road

Your tires are the only contact between you and the road.  Therefore, this is a relationship you want to foster through ensuring well balances contact.  How do you do this?  With the proper amount of tire pressure.  The amount of air that one puts into their tires is of the utmost importance.  The implications of incorrect tire pressure have an impact on both safety and cost savings related to your vehicle. 

In the safety arena, a study by The Society of Automotive Engineers has indicated that 260,000 accidents occurring in a single year, resulting in 79 deaths and 10,600 injuries, were due to low tire pressure.  The reason being is that the simple element of tire pressure affects a vehicles breaking and handling capabilities.  When tires do not have enough air pressure, the breaking distance needed greatly increases.  Additionally, when there is more of a tire touching the road, the outer edges of the tire will wear down and the tire will become hotter.  Both of these circumstances are grounds for a blow out. 

Now let’s take this issue into the realm of the RV.  It is estimated that there are 25 million RV enthusiasts in the United States.  Individuals and families with an RV travel an average of 5,900 miles annually and spend more than 23 days on the road.  These conditions alone call for a more reliable method of regularly checking tire pressure, for a blow out in an RV is not something any person would want to experience.  If your RV does not have a tire sensor installed by the manufacturer, you may want to investigate purchasing and installing an after market tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS). 

There are two types of tire pressure monitoring systems on the market today; direct and indirect.  Both are utilized by car manufacturers seeking to adhere to the law recently put into place.  The direct method is viewed as more reliable.  In the direct monitoring system, a small pressure sensor is mounted on each wheel. The sensor has a built-in transponder that broadcasts a radio signal to an external module, which reads signals and monitors tire pressure.   In the instance that tire pressure drops approximately 25% below what is recommended, the module turns on a light or displays a message to warn the driver. 

The indirect method of tire pressure monitoring is a bit less reliable, but is liked by manufacturers for its simplicity and cost effectiveness.  This approach makes use of the existing wheel speed sensors in the antilock brake (ABS) system.   With indirect monitoring, the system detects low tires by comparing relative wheel speeds.  This type of monitoring system cannot detect low tire pressure if the vehicle has two low tires on the same axle.

When you are on the road in your RV for days or weeks at a time, maintaining proper air pressure is high priority.  If you do not have tire pressure sensors already installed, there are simple ways to install a tire pressure sensor on each tire in which data will be collected and displayed on an electronic screen within the RV.  Because safety is important, the investment in a good tire pressure sensor is one that rewards greatly.