When Tristaters and other Americans hit the road this weekend — Labor Day is the second-busiest holiday on the nation's roads — a quarter of them will be driving cars with at least one underinflated tire.

        That's according to a survey released Wednesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which shows that people aren't heeding government and industry warnings that underinflated tires can lead to traffic injuries and deaths, as well as cutting gasoline mileage and shortening tire life.

        But as Ron Heginbotham, 56, of Edgewood, said: “Being aware of something doesn't necessarily make you act.”

        Mr. Heginbotham recently purchased a new car and has been thinking about checking his tires, but he hasn't gotten around to doing it yet. And he isn't the only one.

        “Very few people check” the air pressure of their tires, Bill Eastham, owner of Bill's Auto Repair in Fairfax, said. “I see people on the road every day with tires that are half flat. We always check when servicing cars and they never really have enough air.”

        The NHTSA survey, made of 11,530 vehicles across the country, also showed a third of all light trucks had at least one significantly underinflated tire.

        Lisa Brown, 40, of Villa Hills, said she never checks the air in her tires, but she takes her car for an oil change and checkup every three months, and her mechanic checks her tires.

        Steve McClure of Liberty Township does the same thing. “I don't worry about it,” he said.

        Why don't people pay more attention? Reasons varied among a handful of Tristaters quizzed Wednesday.

        “I'm too old to bend over,” explained Bob Williams, a West Chester resident who has his tires checked when his car has an oil change.

        Jamie Schifrin, 28, of Clifton, checks the air in his tires once or twice a year, which he admits is probably not enough.

        “I would think you should probably check it every time the seasons change,” Mr. Schifrin said.

        The change of seasons does wreak havoc on tire pressures — cold weather can cause tire pressure to drop — but the NHTSA recommends a monthly check of tires and an additional check before a road trip.

        Gary Baker, owner of Bond Hill Auto Services, also suggests testing with a tire gauge once a month.

        Underinflated tires “can cause a wreck, cause you to slide on wet or even dry streets and increases tire wear,” Mr. Baker said.

        When air pressure is low, tires will wear on the sides. Underinflated tires can also heat up, which could ultimately cause the tire to blow, said Tim Haas, assistant manager at Tire Discounters in Plainville. He said tires lose a couple of pounds of air pressure each month.

        Rick Barnhart, vice president of Tire Discounters, said seeing tires without enough air is an everyday occurence.

        “The car is not going to handle as well as it should,” Mr. Barnhart said. “A lot of people don't realize that it's not going to stop as well as it should, it will build up more heat and wear faster and unevenly.”

        Paul Simon, district manager for Bob Sumerel Tires, said tires should be checked at least every 3,000 miles because it's hard to tell when a tire is getting low.

        “It's a significant drop (in air) before it is visible,” he said.

        Mr. Simon said he thinks underinflated tires were a larger problem in the past. “I think people are much more aware of it today, and we get a lot more people stopping in to ask us to check that for them.”

        Not all Tristate residents ignore the need to check their tires.

        “I do because I'm in a line of work where I have to,” excavator Dan Estes of Liberty Township said. “When it's your work, you'd better keep up with it.”

        Melissa Nutter, 24, of Northside, checks everything, including her tires, once a month because she has an older car.

        Maria Henderson, 24, of Taylor Mill, breaks out her tire gauge once every three months. Her husband used to work for a tire company, so she can always count on him to remind her if she should forget.

        In an attempt to ensure that drivers have properly inflated tires, all vehicles made after November 2003 will be required to have a system to warn drivers about low tire pressure under a rule being drafted by NHTSA. The agency estimates that the system will prevent dozens of deaths and thousands of injuries each year.

        The Rubber Manufacturers Association has begun a multimillion-dollar campaign to encourage proper tire care called “Be Tire Smart — Play your PART.” PART stands for pressure, alignment, rotation and tread, the key aspects of tire maintenance.

        Only 4 percent of respondents to a survey conducted for the association last year mentioned tire pressure checks when asked what routine tire maintenance is done on their vehicles.

        Fifty-five percent did not know where to find the correct pressure recommendation for their tires, which is in the owner's manual and on the vehicle doorjamb.

        “You made an investment in the tire, keep it running as long as you can,” Donald Shea, president of the association, said. “And obviously, the safety is the most important part.”

        Enquirer contributor David Eck and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
       

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