New Survey Finds 55% of Vehicles Have At Least One Underinflated Tire

A new nationwide survey, conducted by the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA), found that 55 percent of vehicles had at least one underinflated tire and only one in six vehicles had four properly inflated tires. The survey also shows that millions of drivers around the country are failing to properly maintain their tires and are putting themselves at risk while wasting gas and money.

RMA worked with several tire retailers to collect actual tire pressure measurements from more than 6,300 vehicles in more than 30 cities.

2010 National Survey Findings:

• 17 percent of vehicles had four properly inflated tires.
• 55 percent of vehicles had at least one underinflated tire.
• 15 percent of vehicles had at least one tire underinflated by 8 pounds per square inch (psi).
• 20 percent of vehicles had at least one tire underinflated by 6 psi.
• 31 percent of vehicles had at least one tire underinflated by 4 psi.

Properly inflated tires can improve fuel efficiency by 3.3 percent and save nine cents per gallon at the pump, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Approximately 1.2 billion gallons of fuel are wasted each year by U.S. motorists driving on underinflated tires. Although all new vehicles are now equipped with tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS), these systems issue a low pressure warning only after tire pressure drops 25 percent below the vehicle manufacturer's recommended pressure.