Failures Found In Non-Recalled Tires

ARLINGTON, Va.--Wilderness Tires that Firestone recalled in August have a better record than those not under recall, according to an analysis performed by Safetyforum.com.

Of the 2,226 Firestone tire failures reported to NHTSA, it is possible to identify both tire size and source for more than 10 percent (267) of the defective tires. Safetyforum.com’s analysis revealed that more than half (58 percent) of the identifiable complaints involve tires NOT made in Decatur. They were made at Firestone plants in Wilson, N.C., Joliette, Quebec, Canada, or Aiken, S.C.

Firestone’s partial recall in August involved ATX tires made during the early 1990s and some Wilderness tires, which replaced the ATX tires, that were made in Decatur. However, of the identifiable Wilderness tire failures in NHTSA’s file, 55 percent were made at Firestone’s Wilson, N.C. facility, 21 percent were made in Joliette, Quebec and 2 percent were made in Aiken, S.C. Only 21 percent of the identifiable Wilderness tire failures reported to NHTSA were made in Decatur.

“Our analysis of NHTSA’s most recent data proves exactly what we have been urging from the outset,” said Safetyforum.com lawyer Tab Turner. “A partial recall focused solely on Decatur (Ill.-made) tires allows Ford and Firestone to play a shell game that replaces defective tires from Decatur with more defective tires from other Firestone facilities. These so-called ‘safe replacement tires’ are every bit as bad--and in fact worse--than the recalled tires and these companies know it. There’s an elephant sitting in the middle of the room that NHTSA is ignoring. Unless the agency puts an end to this foolishness, we’ll be dealing with more injuries, more deaths and more Congressional hearings asking why,” Turner warned.

“The government’s numbers show that the consuming public has not been told the truth and that these companies have managed to divert public attention with their finger pointing while people continue to die,” said Turner.

“Their behavior is the strongest argument yet for the need to add criminal penalties to the vehicle safety act and the continued need to allow juries to consider punitive damages in civil litigation,” Turner said, noting that Congress is currently considering criminal penalties for willful misconduct under the vehicle safety act. Punitive damages, allowed in lawsuits when willful misconduct is proven, is a perennial target of industry-sponsored legislative and legal efforts to gut tort litigation.

“While the fight between Ford and Firestone continues to escalate, the consumer is being led to believe that the non-recalled Wilderness tires are safe. The time has come to focus on the consumer, not which is worse, the tire or the Explorer,” Turner said.

More details and graphic illustrations of tire failure reports in NHTSA’s files are available at Safetyforum.com.

Safetyforum.com Analysis --

http://www.safetyforum.com/tires/release14.html

Safetyforum.com - http://www.safetyforum.com