Federal investigators are investigating complaints that defective Firestone tires were involved in at least 193 crashes and 21 fatalities. Safety advocates put the number of deaths at 50. Complaints involve the tires’ treads peeling off, leading to crashes. Tire models involved: Firestone ATX, ARXII and Wilderness tires. The wilderness tire comes standard on the Ford Explorer.
Sears Roebuck, Discount Tire, Montgomery Wards’ Ward Auto Express, Dunn Tires and Tire Discounters will stop carrying or halt customers orders for those tires. Ford replaced the tires free in Colombia, Ecuador, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Venezuela where it said hot temperatures could make problems worse. Free Inspection: Customers can schedule an appointment with a Firestone Tire and Service Center Call (800) 465-1904.
As federal regulators weigh the rapidly building case against suspected Firestone tire defects, safety advocates today plan to show the defects are responsible for more than double the number of deaths estimated as recently as Friday.
Strategic Safety, a Virginia research firm aiding lawyers in about 100 cases against Firestone, claims the death toll has reached at least 50. The count is up from 21 unconfirmed deaths last tallied by the federal government, and significantly more than the four fatalities attributed to the Firestone ATX, ATXII and Wilderness models in May. “The Firestone tire failure problem in the U.S. is reaching epidemic proportions,” wrote Sean Kane, one of the group’s partners. “The numbers are likely to increase as each day passes.”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is expected to release similar death estimated this week as part of an investigation into what could be causing the tire treads to separate from their casings, typically at high speeds.
What’s amplifying the latest concern about Firestone tires is they are installed on about 5 million Ford models—mostly the top-selling Explorer sport-utility vehicle. The No. 2 U.S. automaker already has recalled 1996-99 Explorers in about a dozen other countries. Although the Ford Explorer has gained most of the attention, the tires are also supplied on some new Ford F-Series pickups, Mercury Mountaineer SUVs and select SUVs and light trucks built by General Motors Corp., Mazda Motor Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co.
The sudden momentum building against the tires that have been under federal scrutiny since May shows how menacing safety issues that lay dormant for years can be quickly ratcheted up by savvy safety advocates and trial lawyers. The death toll is expected to keep growing in part because the more media attention generated, the more consumers are likely to step forward with complaints.
Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, accused Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone of covering up catastrophic problems with the tires they’ve known about for at least four years. “I’m more convinced than ever that this tire should be recalled, ”Claybrook said. “It’s been recalled in a number of countries. If they’re doing it there, why aren’t they doing it in the states?”