AAA Calls On Automakers To Ditch Tire Inflator Kits, Go Back To Spares
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- AAA Mid-Atlantic is calling on automakers to stop replacing spare tires with the new tire inflator kits, which can now be found on more than one-third of all new model cars.
The goal of the tire inflator kits is two-fold: to give motorists a quick fix and to help reduce the weight in the vehicle which boosts fuel efficiency. Jana Tidwell with AAA Mid-Atlantic says they do work under certain circumstances.
"If the vehicle tire is punctured and the object that punctured it is still in the tire," she says, "these inflator kits will work well."
The problem is if the tire is a blowout, or whatever punctured the tire comes out, the kits can't help and then motorists are stuck without a spare tire. Automakers had hoped these kits would reduce the number of calls to companies like AAA, but Tidwell says that's not been the case.
"January through October in the Philadelphia's five-county area, AAA Mid-Atlantic has responded to 75,000 tire related rescue calls," she says. "We're not seeing a decline in flat tire calls."
AAA also says that the inflator kits can be expensive to replace.
