Unsafe Tire Bill Going Before A Tx Senate Committee

Written for kvia.com by Anchor/Reporter Stephanie Valle

EL PASO, TX –The Texas Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Senate Bill 617.

It’s a bill sponsored by our State Senator Eliot Shapleigh, and it would require all tire retailers in the state to puncture a two-inch hole in any used tire that doesn’t meet state safety specs.

The thought behind the bill is to keep the tires off the roads in Texas, in Mexico – specifically Juarez – and out of Mexican landfills.

The head of the El Paso Tire Retailer Association thinks the ultimate goal is admirable, but does not think the road there is the right one.

“We want to be responsible citizens. We just don’t feel this is a good thing to do,” says Ron Martin. “Ithink it’s extra work for something that shouldn’t be done.”

Martin, who runs Martin Tire Company, says tire retailers are already required to send unsafe tires to a recycling company, which chops up tires to be used in asphalt and playground coverings.

The tire retailer also points out that many used tires with bare tread are often retreaded and used on aircraft and race cars.

“If you require all used tires to have a 2 inch hole put in them, then what are you going to retread?” He asked. “If you eliminate all used tires, yeah, there won’t be any to illegally dump! But customers can still take them with them — are they going to cut a hole in them? I don’t think so!”

The bill is set for discussion in a Senate committee in Austin later today.