Report: Goodyear Notifies NHTSA

LOS ANGELES--Facing a potential public relations disaster of Firestone proportions, Goodyear Rubber & Tire Co., has, for the first time, decided to notify the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concerning the incidents of tire tread separation on its light truck tires, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“Goodyear’s willingness to ‘touch base’ with the NHTSA is a very small step but in the right direction--the direction of increasing public safety,” said lawyer Christine Spagnoli of the law firm Green, Broillet, Taylor, Wheeler and Panish of Santa Monica, Calif. Spagnoli is representing several plaintiffs suing Goodyear.

The company has yet to reveal the scope or specifics of its submission to the government agency. “This latest move contrasts the manufacturer’s long-held insistence on gag orders and secrecy agreements concerning accident and safety reports on the tires,” Spagnoli said.

“This represents a slight loosening of the manufacturer’s information stranglehold involving tread separation-induced rollover accidents of large SUVs and school and passenger vans,” said Spagnoli. “After public disclosure by the Los Angeles Times, Goodyear has now admitted that, since 1994, at least 15 deaths and 120 serious injuries, including amputation and paraplegia, have been linked to the malfunction of the light truck tires,” said Spagnoli.

Nationwide media coverage has highlighted the tire’s threat to public safety, she said. “The heaviness of the vehicles--which include GMC Suburbans and Ford vans--and large number of passengers carried magnify the gravity of danger during rollover accidents,” she added.