How accurate is the TPMS?
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2012
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Helmets and 35 mph speed limits won't save lives because nobody is going to follow it either. TPMS does save lives though. Has it killed anybody? In the meantime, ridiculously low speed limits killed people left and right in Arizona. Who the hell can drive for 5 hours at 55 mph in the desert?
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 19,311
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From: Waterloo, Iowa
BS, Laws of course don't really mean anything, but enforcement does - with sufficient zeal for enforcement and real teeth behind the penalties a 35 mph national speed limit and helmet law could be made to work beautifully.
Not saying it would be a good idea, but, "it's for the children." After all, if it could save one life, it's worth it right?
Not saying it would be a good idea, but, "it's for the children." After all, if it could save one life, it's worth it right?
Senior User
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 174
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From: Central Florida
That's far from the normal circumstances. Down here in Florida we get a lot of roll over crashes that are from tire failures. More times than not the aftermath pics show a clapped out and likely poorly owner maintained vehicle. Just had one out on I-4 last month. Dodge Durango, no one belted somehow there were 8 occupants. Driver (mother) survived the roll over along with a baby that somehow was launched over a sound limiting wall and was found in a backyard. Tire failure started the crash. The other tires that could be seen in the Sentinel article didn't appear to have much tread. No tpms was going to save that wreck. I never saw any reports that the driver was going to be charged with anything. The driver will likely try suing Dodge and the tire manufacturer because it "certainly wasn't her fault". Grrr.....
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2012
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It happened on my brand new F-150 last week! Got a new shell, looked at four tires, and it was good to go. The tire was flat in ten minutes, refilled it four times during the 10-mile drive to Goodyear! Thanks to... TPMS!
I have never heard of anybody with bald tires suing the manufacturer for defects. Geez.
I have never heard of anybody with bald tires suing the manufacturer for defects. Geez.
Posting Guru
Joined: Feb 2005
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Posting Guru
Joined: Nov 2010
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Tpms isn't adding significant cost to your truck .....it's a safety feature like seat belt. Saving one life any life young or old makes it worth it. Helmets and 35 mph speed limit while not practical would likely all but eliminate dying in a automobile crash, faster crashes harder.It's a sensor that let's you know your tire is below a critical psi but being the do it yourself self efficient up by my bootstraps you guys make yourselves out to be you'd know that nail you picked leaving the gas station as you got back on the interstate and resumed humming along at 95 mph unbuckled while smoking a cigarette while checking your email on your smartphone has dropped your tires pressure before it runs flat or worse.
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Super Moderator
Joined: Aug 2003
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From: Isanti, MN
Don't get me wrong, I completely agree with Ted's mindset against government regulation. I think we're way over-regulated as it is. My point is that TPMS, just like seatbelts and airbags, is a good thing.
Posting Guru
Joined: Nov 2010
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I'm all for less government but there's to many variables involving people in general to say a simple thing like tpms is not warranted. Not everyone who operates an automobile has the level of do it yourselfness as offered up by some here and that's not a bad thing. I meticulously maintain my own vehicles but that's me ...knowing that many don't doesn't it seem a little logical to be thankful all those other cars and trucks zooming around you all day on the road have a feature that could save your or someone you care about lives even though you'll never be in those cars and trucks. Money is not the thing here if they stripped every safety feature out they'd cost what they cost now anyway.
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 19,311
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From: Waterloo, Iowa
My only point is that an excessive reliance on technology can make things worse, people lose the skillsets that can not be substituted.
Tires have to be inspected periodically. No pressure management system is going to replace that. It's a good system, but it's not going to replace the need for the operators good judgment.
I read a story a while back, a young lady was on a road trip and using her smartphone navigation app. A rockslide had closed the road, and she was at a convenience store completely devastated and crying because she didn't know what to do. They had free road maps (remember those?) but she had no idea how to read one!
Lots of people drive around on basically flat bald tires, fried rotors and floating drums. Ya can't fix stupid, it just costs 10x more for everyone else.
Tires have to be inspected periodically. No pressure management system is going to replace that. It's a good system, but it's not going to replace the need for the operators good judgment.
I read a story a while back, a young lady was on a road trip and using her smartphone navigation app. A rockslide had closed the road, and she was at a convenience store completely devastated and crying because she didn't know what to do. They had free road maps (remember those?) but she had no idea how to read one!
Lots of people drive around on basically flat bald tires, fried rotors and floating drums. Ya can't fix stupid, it just costs 10x more for everyone else.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2012
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By removing TPMS, we can focus on other things. Nobody likes distraction. An example, here, we have to watch for the cops, the speedometer, and the highway. On the German autobahn, it's just the highway. If you feel it is too fast, slow down a bit.
A small glance is what the tire needs. If it's bald, replace it. By having TPMS, we have more time to do other things. Our microwave ovens cook 10 times faster than our convectional ovens.
Is TPMS less effective? No, it isn't. It even gives you the readout. What's wrong with that? It's like the purists bemoaning the demise of 35mm cameras but they ignore the fact that digital DSLR cameras are better, cheaper, more efficient, faster, and offers more options.
A small glance is what the tire needs. If it's bald, replace it. By having TPMS, we have more time to do other things. Our microwave ovens cook 10 times faster than our convectional ovens.
Is TPMS less effective? No, it isn't. It even gives you the readout. What's wrong with that? It's like the purists bemoaning the demise of 35mm cameras but they ignore the fact that digital DSLR cameras are better, cheaper, more efficient, faster, and offers more options.
Posting Guru
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Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 19,311
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From: Waterloo, Iowa
They have been likened to tongue-burning rubber food generators. They boil water and heat up coffee or leftovers OK, but do not replace a grill or conventional oven. The government isn't forcing me to buy one, at least not yet.