A Toronto-area couple wants to know why tire pressure monitoring sensors are not mandatory in Canada like they are in the U.S., after their Subaru suddenly blew a tire while they were travelling south of the border.
“It was traumatic actually, because our car almost flipped over and we managed to veer to the side of the road with no tire on,” Christinea Singh told CTV Toronto.
Christinea Singh and her husband, Surujpaul, were alerted to the different rules when they took their 2016 Subaru Forester to a U.S. dealer for service following the harrowing incident.
“They were shocked that the tire safety warning did not come on,” she said. “We were under the impression that there was a tire safety warning.”
The dealer informed them that tire pressure monitoring sensors are mandatory in the U.S. for all new vehicles produced since 2007. However, the Singhs’ vehicle did not have one of those sensors because it was sold in Canada.
Surujpaul Singh said he doesn’t see why Canada wouldn’t take the same measures as the U.S. to implement the sensors on Canadian vehicles.
“If you’re driving your vehicle and you see a warning signal come on, a good driver would pull over… but we didn’t have this feature,” he said.
Subaru Canada says there is an added cost to installing the safety measure on its vehicles, and that it’s not required under Transport Canada regulations.
“Transport Canada’s research has not identified that TPMS provide any potential safety benefits to Canadians,” Julue Lychak, manager, public relations for Subaru Canada, said in a statement.
“Subaru vehicles are equipped with features to meet the regulations and unique demands of each market where they are being sold.”
The Singhs say they’re disappointed by the difference, and wish they at least had the option to buy a Subaru vehicle with the feature installed.
With files from CTV Toronto’s Pat Foran
