Speed Ratings and Safety Claims for Tires
77 F.T.C. 1704 · June 3, 1969 · Digest No. 410
source volume section (77 F.T.C. 1704)
Text is machine-OCR of the printed volume and may contain errors. Advisory opinions are the Commission's views on proposed conduct, not binding orders.
No. 410. Speed Ratings and Safety Claims for Tires. The Commission advised that the proposed advertising of speed rating and safety claims for foreign made automotive tires would be considered deceptive and in violation of Section 5, Federal Trade Commission Act.
The statements to be used in advertising and promotional materials included: “The (tire) has an HR* speed rating—this means it has survived tests at 1830 MPH for 24 hours straight.” “The (tire) is rated at 180 MPH for 24 hours straight.” At the bottom of the page would appear this asterisked footnote: “*Internationally-recognized speed rating of the European Tyre and Rim Technical Organization. Established in supervised tests by professional drivers. Not intended to encourage high-speed driving.”
In a policy statement of June 3, 1969, entitled “F.T.C. Will Challenge Misleading Speed and Safety Representations in Automobile Tire Advertising,” the Commission announced that “* * * it intends to challenge automobile tire advertising which misrepresents the overall speed and safety performance capabilities of tires. Examples of current advertising claims are “ * * built low and wide like a racing tire. Tested at 130 mph’, ‘“* * * all new, wide tire made especially for the young crowd and today’s high performance cars’, ‘* * * certified safe at 100 mph. So yow’re safe at 60, 70, or 80’, ‘Safety tested at over 100 mph * * *, ‘Stamina so great we safety tested them at 130 mph’, and ‘stops 25% quicker’.”
In the policy statement the Commission took the position that “There is reason to believe that claims of this type may be deceptive and misleading as to tire safety. The speed tests do not reveal how the tires will perform at such speeds under all road conditions encountered in normal driving at various stages of the life of the tires. Specifically, the tests do not reveal whether the tires at such speeds during normal use would withstand various road hazard impacts, the sustained flexing to which tires would be subjected, and whether the tires would remain seated on the rim of the wheel under such conditions.” (File No. 7038 7058, released Feb. 18, 1970.)