Most motorist complaints about Bridgestone/Firestone tires involved failures on the rear wheels, which are particularly treacherous in sport-utility vehicles traveling at highway speeds, a New York Times analysis of government data shows.
According to the computer analysis, 56 percent of the complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration involved failures of rear tires. Just 14 percent cited front tires.
Another 25 percent of complaints did not specify the position of the failed tire, while 5 percent involved both front and rear failures.
Contrary to the widespread perception that front tires are the most critical for safety, experts say failure of a rear tire is much more difficult to recover from, and more frightening, than a front-tire problem.
A key difference is that steering is of little help, especially if the tread peels off a rear tire. It may only provoke a skid that hastens loss of control and precipitates a rollover crash.
Because of their higher centers of gravity, SUVs are considered more rollover-prone than other cars.
A New York Times analysis of 621 tire complaints being investigated by the government in connection with the recall found that:
-- The complaints were more evenly distributed across the country than those received by Firestone.
-- More than half of the complaints, 57 percent, involved tires that failed at highway speeds of at least 50 mph. Nearly a quarter were at speeds of 70 mph or higher.
-- Of 45 fatal accidents, 35 involved a rollover. A total of 54 people were reported killed in the crashes.
NHTSA officials say they are trying to determine why the bulk of the cases involve complaints of rear-tire failure. Possible explanations could range from different kinds of stress on the tires in the back to a likelihood that consumers would complain about a rear-tire failure because it is a more jarring experience.
Baumgardner said some experts recommend that a driver accelerate to get rid of any remaining tire tread before attempting to stop.
In other developments Thursday, Bridgestone/Firestone announced that it will indefinitely extend its policy of reimbursing consumers for tires replaced with a competitor’s brand.