Quote:
Originally Posted by IRONICK
Do you have the documentation for that? Thank you in advance
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My mistake--it's an EU regulation, not FMVSS (I had mis-remembered). It varies state by state in the US, with most states having a more aggressive regulation that requires coverage of tire tread to 75 degrees past vertical, like Washington: "Coverage of the tire tread circumference must be from at least fifteen degrees in front and to at least seventy-five degrees to the rear of the vertical centerline at each wheel measured from the center of the wheel rotation." I suspect this is mostly so they can crack down on lifted trucks and fender-less Jeeps.
The relevant EU statute is
Commission Regulation (EU) No 1009/2010, Annex II, 2.1.1: "In the part formed by radial planes at an angle of 30° towards the front and 50° towards the rear of the centre of the wheels (see Figure 1), the overall width (q) of the wheel guard shall be at least sufficient to cover the total tyre width (b) taking into account the tyre envelope as well as the extremes of the tyre/wheel combination(s) as specified by the manufacturer."
This regulation is also referenced in this Car&Driver article,
"How Regulations Dictate the Look of New Cars," which also explains why we still get those little plastic bits on cars in the US.