Abstract
Three field studies were carried out to evaluate the potential effectiveness of good on-product size and warning information in preventing 16 inch tire and 16.5 inch rim mismatch accidents. In the first study a 16 inch tire, a 16.5 inch tire, a 16 inch rim and a 16.5 inch rim were taken to service stations where employees were requested to mount the tires. The 16 inch tire contained a tread label warning and a warning label was located in the drop center of the 16.5 inch rim. The rims also contained size stamping information. At the 27 stations visited, 5 employees started to mount the 16 inch tire on the 16.5 inch rim and 3 started to mount the 16.5 inch tire on the 16 inch rim. All others would have mounted correctly matched tires and rims. The second study consisted of taking a 16 inch tire and 16.5 inch rim to 28 service stations to be mounted. At 18 stations a label containing size and warning information was on the rim. At 10 of these stations the employee refused to mount the tire. As a control, the same tire and rim were taken to 10 stations without the rim warning, and the employees at 9 of these stations proceeded to begin the mounting task. In Study 3 a printed warning label intended for the sidewall of 16 inch tires was shown to 23 service station employees who were asked to read the label and assume they had read it on a tire sidewall. They were then asked what they would do. This behavioral intention measure indicated that 2 would refuse to mount the tire and 17 others would attempt to determine the size of the rim. The results of these field studies clearly indicate that good warning and size information can be significant in preventing 16 inch tire and 16.5 inch rim mismatch accidents.
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