Development of an Automotive Icon for Indication of Significant Tire Underinflation

Abstract

In the TREAD Act of November 1, 2000, Congress required the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to develop a rule requiring all new light vehicles to be equipped with a warning system to indicate to the driver when a tire is significantly underinflated. Research was conducted to assess the ability of two existing ISO symbols and 13 proposed alternative symbols to communicate the message of tire underinflation. An existing dashboard icon representing an engine was included as a baseline. A comprehension test was conducted in which each of 120 subjects was asked to report the meaning of one tire pressure icon and the engine icon. Results showed 25 and 37.5% comprehension for the ISO tire icons. All of the 13 alternative icons had better comprehension: 6 of 13 had 100%; 2 of 13 had 87.5% comprehension. The type of wheel pictured in tire image based icons was found to affect comprehension. Results suggest that alternatives to the ISO icons should be considered for use in alerting drivers to tire inflation problems.