A new regulation will require tire pressure monitors installed on all cars sold in the U.S. beginning with the 2008 model year.

U.S. orders new safety equipment in cars (AP)

New passenger cars must have tire pressure monitoring systems in place by the 2008 model year, the U.S. government announced Thursday. The regulation, which has its roots in the Firestone tire recall of 2000, will require auto makers to attach tiny sensors to each wheel that will signal if a tire falls 25 per cent below the recommended inflation pressure. If any one of the four tires is underinflated, the sensors set off a dashboard warning light.

Auto makers will begin implementing the technology in September. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates the upgrade will cost manufacturers between $48.44 and $69.89 a vehicle. The government said underinflated tires hurt a vehicle’s fuel economy and can increase stopping distances, increase likelihood of tire failure and lead to skidding on wet surfaces.

All new four-wheel vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds (4,540 kilograms) or less will be required to be equipped with the systems by the 2008 model year. The regulation affects passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and minivans. NHTSA estimates that 120 lives a year will be saved when all new vehicles are equipped with the systems.

While my instincts are libertarian, I’m not intrinsically opposed to governmental safety regulations such as these. However, one wonders how many governmentally mandated add-ons it takes to increase the price of a car beyond the marginal safety utility. Air bags, tire sensors, upgraded bumpers, crumple zones, reinforcement bars, safety glass, and so forth are all useful equipment which almost certainly save lives. At the same time, incremental increases in the price of new cars presumably cause people at the margins to not buy new cars, either diverting them to used cars without these expensive features or to repair their existing vehicles. How many people will forgo cars safer than their current cars so that others can have the marginal safety increase that tire sensors will bring?

Or, to put the question another way: Let’s presume this regulation will indeed save 120 lives a year. How many will it cost? The answer, presumably, is not “zero.”