Yesterday, we touched on the current legislative effort of Florida representative Jason Brodeur, who is trying to pass a bill that will require used tire dealers to disclose tire age to their customers. This is an important step in the quest to end needless crashes on our roads and highways that are caused by tire aging.
Last night, Rep. Brodeur spoke with Orlando’s WFTV news to discuss his bill and express the importance of consumer awareness regarding tire aging. “You can’t go to the 7-Eleven and buy milk without seeing an expiration date, yet you can buy a tire that could be in any shape, any condition, without at least a heads up,” Brodeur said.
WFTV also spoke with Liz Colston, whose husband and son were killed in an automobile accident in 2011. One of the tires on Liz’s husband’s vehicle experienced a tread separation which caused a rollover. Turns out the tire that failed was more than six-years old. Most automobile manufacturers recommend that consumers replace tires that are older than six years.
Surprisingly, the owner of a used tire dealership in Orlando expressed his concern with Brodeur’s bill in a related interview with WFTV. While the dealer in question claimed that none of the tires that his business sells are older than five years, he believes that this bill would influence consumers to look elsewhere, thus ruining his business. Really? Seems like the bill might result in MORE tires sold…
Wouldn’t it be like with the pharmaceutical industry that puts expiration dates on all of the pills and medications they sell? This is both good for consumers (safer drugs) and for the drug companies — who get to sell more drugs when older ones expire. Hopefully, unlike the dealer in the WFTV interview, other tire dealers will see the upside to this bill and lend their support.
The bill, as Brodeur explained to WFTV, is simply a measured effort to make sure that consumers know what to look for in purchasing used tires. Consumers have the right to know everything that the tire dealers already know.
Below is a clip of the report from WFTV news.
