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Stricter controls eyed for sales of used tires

KEITH ARNOLD
Special to the Legal News

Published: February 16, 2017

A Republican duo in the Ohio House of Representatives are proponents of a bill that would place more stringent requirements on sales of used tires.

Reps. Robert Sprague of Findlay and Anthony DeVitis of Uniontown resuscitated the legislation in the 132nd General Assembly of the Ohio Legislature after it failed to gain enough traction in the last session to be passed into law.

House Bill 42 stipulates the types of vehicles to which the bill applies and defines the characteristics of an unsafe tire.

"By addressing the installation of unsafe tires, this legislation will help improve highway and motorist safety," Sprague said in a cosponser request to fellow House members. "Under the bill, unsafe used tires are defined as: worn to two thirty-seconds of an inch tread depth or less, having any damage exposing the reinforcing plies of the tire, having a defaced or removed United States Department of Transportation Tire Identification Number, having inner liner or bead damage, showing indication of internal separation, or having an improper repair."

In addition to the examples of damage to the reinforcing plies of the tire - cuts, cracks, punctures, scrapes, or wear - the bill specifically defines the following characteristics as unsafe:

• Any repair in the tread shoulder or belt edge area;

• A puncture that has not been both sealed or patched on the inside and repaired with a cured rubber stem through the outside;

• Repair to the sidewall or bead area of the tire;

• A puncture repair of damage larger than one-fourth of an inch; and

• Evidence of prior use of a temporary tire sealant without evidence of a subsequent proper repair.

No supplier shall install an unsafe used tire on a passenger car, multipurpose passenger vehicle, or truck that will operate on a public highway, HB 42 states.

According to Sprague, several states already have introduced similar legislation - Colorado and Maryland having passed laws governing the sale and installation of unsafe used tires.

"This legislation is not designed to ban the sale of used tires, but it is meant to prevent the installation of unsafe tires that meet the criteria of worn out, damaged, or improperly repaired," he said.

A violation of the provision would be considered an unconscionable consumer sales act or practice and subject to civil penalty under state law.

The bill's previous iteration, House Bill 574, advanced as far as Commerce and Labor Committee, but was never reported out of committee.

Testimony in support of the measure during the last session included state manufacturing associations, a chamber of commerce and AAA.

One, final provision of HB 42 stipulates that the law does not apply to tires mounted on wheels or rims that are temporarily removed from a vehicle and reinstalled on the same vehicle.

A call to a local used tire seller was not returned by press deadline.

Additionally, an email sent to a spokesman of the Better Business Bureau of Central Ohio was not answered by deadline.

HB 42 had not been assigned to a committee for hearing as of publication.

Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, is the bill's sole cosponsor.

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