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product_liability defective_tiresConsumers demanded more focus on tire safety after the highly publicized
massive Bridgestone Firestone recall of 6.5 million tires. The
tire recall resulted after the tires experienced tread separations and caused
SUV rollovers to occur, linked to the death of 271 people in U.S. traffic
deaths and thousands of accidents. The auto industry tried to capitalize
on the safety issues by spending 70% more money than over the past seven
years on the development, marketing, and sales of car safety. The SUV rollover
issue received a lot of public attention as well, and now rollover protection
is being improved in cars and SUVs.
If a tread separation does occur, it reduces the ability of a driver to
control the vehicle. According to a recent report released last October
by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the likelihood
of a crash with death and injuries was determined to be much greater if
in an SUV. Congressional leaders promised a greater governmental role in
the tire industry following the Bridgestone/Firestone tire recall in order
to tighten reporting requirements on companies such as Ford or Firestone/Bridgestone.
As a result of Congress'' promise, the TREAD Act became law in the fall of 2000. The TREAD Act stands for Transportation Reporting Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation that by law now:
The reason Continental''s tire defect was found is highly attributed to the TREAD Act and to the increased focus on safety, especially with tread separation because of Bridgestone/Firestone. The vice president of original equipment for Continental said their examination claims for evidence of defects effort has redoubled since the Firestone recall. The TREAD Act requires automakers to disclose information that relates to possible defects and allows the NHTSA to determine if they should issue a recall independently of the manufacturer. In the past automakers would only need to inform the NHTSA of safety defects when an internal investigation had concluded a recall was necessary, but because a recall can be extremely costly, the automaker did not always choose to report to the NHTSA of the defects.
Continental did not say how many tread separations had occurred after their investigation but estimated the tire recall would cost them an estimated $19 million. In addition, Ford said they had incorrectly labeled the tire pressure for the rear wheels on 81,774 two-wheel drive Expedition and Navigator SUVs from the 2000 model year, some of them included in the Continental tire recall. Ford had recommended pressure for the rear tires at 30 psi, but should have pressure of 33 psi. Low tire pressure contributes to tire blowouts that can cause drivers to lose control of their vehicle or an SUV rollover.
Continental Tire North America Inc. is one of several defendants in a lawsuit filed recently over the death of an Arizona Border Patrol agent in November 2006.
David Webb died of head injuries sustained in a single vehicle acc...
About 450,000 tires made in China for light pickup trucks, vans, and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are the subject of a request for a recall by their U.S. distributor. The tires have an insufficient or entirely missing gum strip, which is a required sa...