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The Great Tire Debate, Part III

© Maggie Herman

Since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced the recall of various Firestone tires last year, other Firestone tires have also been investigated by the agency. In September 2000, NHTSA issued a consumer advisory covering various Firestone tires presenting similar types of injury risks as those implicated in the earlier Firestone recall. The tires involved include various sizes of the following models: ATX, Firehawk ATX, ATX 23 Degree, Widetrack Radial Baja, Widetrack Radial Baja A/S, Wilderness AT, and Wilderness HT. The tires were used as original equipment on Chevrolet Blazers, Nissan pickup trucks, and Ford F-150 pickup trucks.

In October of 2000, NHTSA announced plans to investigate safety problems associated with the Firestone Steeltex tire after the agency received complaints that the tire could lose its tread and blow out. According to federal regulators, the tire has been linked to 169 complaints, 8 collisions, 12 injuries, and 2 fatalities. The tire models under investigation are the R4S and A/T tires in the 15, 16, and 16.5-inch versions equipped primarily on Ford F-250 and F-350 pickups and Excursion sport-utility vehicles (SUVs), and General Motors Suburban SUVs and G-vans.

But Firestone is not the only tire maker under fire. NHTSA also initiated an investigation covering the GT52S tire manufactured by Continental A.G. The tires, primarily used as original equipment on another SUV—the Bronco II manufactured by Ford—are reportedly linked to as many as 18 fatalities. Most of the fatalities reportedly occurred in the Ford SUV and were the result of rollovers.

In addition, Continental agreed to replace nearly 40,000 tires it supplied for 1998 and 1999 model year Lincoln Navigators, also manufactured by Ford. In what the company calls a “customer satisfaction program,” Continental will replace its 16-inch ContiTrac AS tires, although a spokeswoman for the company said that the replacement program is not safety related. However, the program was prompted by tire failures in Saudi Arabia similar to those that set off the Firestone recall that the public now knows so much about.

Currently several cases are pending in courts across the country concerning alleged defects in various Cooper tires. Seventeen cases have been consolidated in a federal court to resolve various allegations made by consumers against Cooper Tire and Rubber Company. Plaintiffs in the case claim that Cooper used a manufacturing practice known as awl punching to remove blisters in the tires. The practice weakened the tires and, according to plaintiffs, rendered the tires unreasonably dangerous. Plaintiffs are seeking a recall of the tires and an order barring Cooper from continuing to sell the tires. The case was filed following an investigation of Cooper tires conducted by NHTSA last fall. In re Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. Tires Prods. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 1393 (S.D. Ohio Feb. 23, 2001).