Garages and car showrooms are to provide customers with detailed information on energy efficiency, safety and tire noise performance in accordance with the decision taken by the industry committee of the European Parliament. The group "Terra!" (Land!) and Transport and environment (T&E) federation for sustainable transportation have welcomed the agreement, which goes well beyond the proposal put forward by the European Commission last year.

Labels - showing the categories of energy efficiency (say, rolling resistance ), safety (say, grip in the wet) and noise - shall be clearly displayed anywhere tires are sold, car showrooms included.

The information is to be printed on all receipts of purchase and on the side of the tire. A new website - where consumers may compare the features of different types of tires and calculate the potential savings in fuel, in accordance with the directives of the Parliament - is going to be implemented .

"We used to buy tires on the base of poor or lacking information which was a very frustrating experience - said Daniel Monetti of Terra! -
There was no official information that helped the consumer compare the thousands of models available on the market, saving money in fuel savings or offer better adhesion to wet. All the information needed  - at last - will be directly available in stores and will indeed result in abatement of costs and CO2 emissions. "

"It is now up to Member States to give their support to these proposals so as to turn them into effective laws, and make sure they are carried out without delay - said Nina Renshaw of Transport and Environment (T & E), pointing out as - this decision is a first step to eliminate the primary cause of noise pollution in our cities, and improve the quality of life and health of European citizens. "

All well that ends well, although some more could be done: for instance, shaping a kind of ecological footprint of rubber, an LCA that would find out the real impact of the product during all stages of its life cycle.

Of course, this should happen for all products; as far as tires are concerned, it would make it possible to understand the real significance of retreaded tires, thus encouraging the government to respect the law, 30% acquired on compulsory green (recycled) from the door government.