§202.23. Visual tire inspection. — Inbound Citations

No motor carrier subject to these regulations shall at any time operate any motor vehicle of a type to which this regulation is applicable on a tire or tires having a tread pattern which as originally manufactured, or as newly retreaded, is composed primarily or cavities in the tread (excluding sipes and local chunking) which are not vented by grooves to the tire shoulder or circumferentially to each other around the tire. This § 202.23 shall not apply to any motor vehicle which is demonstrated by the motor carrier which operates it to be in compliance with the noise emission standard specified for operations on highways with speed limits of more than 35 MPH in § 202.20 of this Subpart B, if the demonstration is conducted at the highway speed limit in effect at the inspection location, or, if speed is unlimited, the demonstration is conducted at a speed of 65 MPH.

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, a motor vehicle does not conform to the visual tire inspection requirements, 40 CFR 202.23, of the Interstate Motor Carrier Noise Emissions Standards, if inspection of any tire on which the vehicle is operating discloses that the tire has a tread pattern composed primarily of cavities in the tread (excluding sipes and local chunking) which are not vented by grooves to the tire shoulder or circumferentially to each other around the tire.