---

Safetyforum.com: New Data Show 'Alarming Number' of Failures On Non-Recalled Tires

1 September 2000

Safetyforum.com: New Data Show 'Alarming Number' of Failures On Non-Recalled Tires

    ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 1 On the heels of NHTSA's consumer
advisory today, consumer, safety and legal representatives renewed their
insistence that Firestone and Ford expand their tire recall to include all
Wilderness tires based on new data that show an "alarming number" of Firestone
tires that are being used as replacement tires.  "Based on our analysis of
lawsuits, recently released government figures and reports to Safetyforum.com,
these tires already have a well-established history of failures, deaths and
injuries," said Little Rock, Arkansas safety attorney Tab Turner.
    Joining Turner were Safetyforum.com, an internet website dedicated to the
exchange of information about hazardous and defective products, the Tire
Action Group (TAG) a group of Firestone-Ford owners, and other concerned
citizens, who have organized on the internet to press for a recall.
    "Our analysis of lawsuits, pending claims, NHTSA's recently released data
and reports of failures made to Safetyforum.com, reveals an alarming number of
failures, injuries and deaths" Turner said.  "These numbers prove several
things," Turner said:

    *     "The 6.5 million partial recall of these tires must be expanded to
          include all Firestone Wilderness tires regardless of their size or
          where the tires were made.  This is precisely what we have been
          urging from the outset;

    *     "Ford and Firestone keep telling the public that the proposed
          replacement tires are safe and we know for a fact that these tires
          are failing as well".

    *     "This problem is not unique to the Decatur plant and both Ford and
          Firestone are in this up to their chins";

    Turner, Safetyforum.com and TAG commended NHTSA for its Safety Advisory
and urged the agency to move quickly to press Ford and Firestone for a full
recall.
    Of 93 lawsuits and claims reviewed, 34 (37 percent) were non-recalled 16"
tires or 15" tires that were not made in Decatur.
    Of 1,453 tire failure reports recently released by NHTSA, of the 61 that
included the DOT tire code, 17 (28 percent) were 16" tires or non-Decatur
Wilderness tires.
    Of the hundreds of failure and defective tire reports received by
Safetyforum.com, 125 were 16" tires or non-Decatur Wilderness tires.
For further details go to http://www.Safetyforum.com.