shatner saves said:
You can thank the feds for the low tire pressure monitor. This was regulated for all '05-later vehicles in the wake of the Explorer/Firestone tire thing.
While I am not one to thank the government for added regulation. (but the defense is very good, thank you for that.) Tire monitors may not need to be federally legislated, but might be a worth-while addition to a vehicle. I plan on installing a set when I get a chance to do some research, and save some money, but then again, I check tire pressures and wear several times a month.
I do have to think that maybe the tire-monitors aren't so bad an idea, unlike other winners such as daytime running lamps on cars.
Under-inflation is not such a good thing, most of the time. For a drag-racer, monitors may be an annoyance, but for most of the people, driving on under-inflated tires can be dangerous.
Overheating the carcasses (causing catastrophic failure in OEM Explorer tires), and seperated nylon plies, and uneven tire wear. All of which cause lack or loss of control on the few square inches of contact with the road for a several thousand pound mass. (not counting inertia)
If people let tires become under-inflated in the first place, the chances are that they won't check it until it becomes a potential safety issue. Auto maintenance seems not to be on the highest priorities of the general motoring public. Probably no one on this forum has that problem, but definitely people we all share the road with.
Do you want a car with a blow-out careening into your shiny new 05' Mustang, or hurting you or your passenger, when it could have been easily corrected by simply stopping by a compressor at a gas station?