Firestone Tires

IN THE LATE 1990s, a series of fatal repetitive accidents occurred among drivers of Ford vehicles using certain Firestone tires (manufactured by Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., the result of a 1990 merger) that experienced tread separation. This led to major recalls of tires by Firestone, free tire replacements by Ford Motor Company, an extensive investigation by the Department of Transportation (DOT), hearings before the U.S. Congress, and hundreds of lawsuits.

As reports of accidents involving the Firestone ATX, ATX II, and Wilderness tires began to mount in mid-2000, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (HTSA), a division of DOT, opened its investigation. Under the provisions established by the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, in August, Firestone was forced to recall all of its ATX and ATX II tires in the P235/75RI ATX series at a cost of approximately $3 billion. Over an 18-month period, Firestone recalled tires in all 50 states. Problems with Firestone tires on Ford Explorers were also experienced in 12 foreign countries.

On May 22, 2001, Ford offered free replacement of approximately 13 million Firestone Wilderness tires on Ford Explorers, Mercury Mountaineers, and Mazda Navajo sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and Ford Ranger trucks. A week after Ford's announcement, arguing that the cause of the accidents stemmed from a faulty design of Ford Explorers rather than with the design of the Firestone tires, Firestone filled an official request asking that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) begin an investigation into why so many Explorers crashed, sometimes rolling over, after tread separation occurred in the Firestone ATX and Wilderness AT tires. Firestone supplemented their request with data compiled by their own vehicle dynamics consultant. After examining Firestone's data, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) concluded that there was insufficient evidence to warrant an investigation into the Ford Explorer.

In response to public concern over automobile safety, the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation Act, popularly known as the TREAD Act, which was intended to ensure automobile safety and which was specifically aimed at accountability of tire manufacturers, was introduced in the House of Representatives on September 13, 2000. Acting with uncustomary promptness, both houses of Congress passed the bill and handed it to the president by November 1. The TREAD Act became P.L. 16–414 on November 1, 2000, giving NHTSA the authority to regulate tire performance standards, tire pressure warnings, early-warning reporting regulations, roll-over testing, and child restraint improvements. A harsher bill that did not pass would have imposed criminal penalties on automobile executives who did nothing about known defects in automobiles and automotive equipment.

On October 4, 2001, NHTSA announced its investigation into Firestone Tires, concluding that the P235/75R15 and P255/70R18 tires manufactured at the Decatur, Illinois, Firestone plant and sold by Ford Motor company before May 1998 were responsible for a number of reported crashes, injuries, and deaths due to tread separations that caused drivers to lose control of their vehicles, often resulting in roll-overs. ODI extended its investigation to include Firestone tires manufactured in Wilson, North Carolina, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in the United States and in Joliette, Quebec, in Canada.

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