Ford Approved Risky Replacement Tires for SUV

March 16, 2006

New test results reveal that Ford Motor Co. okayed replacement tires for its Explorer sports utility vehicle that were just as risky as the original tires, which Ford blamed for more than 200 fatalities.

The test results of the replacement tires were used as evidence in a Mississippi Explorer trial and may back up hundreds of pending product liability lawsuits against the company arguing the vehicles are unstable and could roll over during evasive driving maneuvers.

In 2000, Ford blamed the original Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. tires for the fatal accidents after a government investigation into the company's SUV rollovers. However, this new evidence shows that the tires were not the only cause for the accidents.

"It wasn't just the tires," said Sean Kane, co-founder of Safety Research Strategies. "This shows just how on edge the Ford Explorer is."

According to computer simulation test results of the new replacement tires, the Explorer tipped onto two wheels on tires manufactured by Goodyear, Michelin's Uniroyal, Continental and other makers. These results help disprove Ford's claim that the original tires were at fault for the rollovers.

Ford documents show that the company approved some of the failed tires as replacements. Karen Shaughnessy, a Ford spokeswoman, said in an email that "Ford performed extensive testing and analysis before approving any replacement tires. No single factor determined whether a specific tire was approved as a replacement tire."

So far, Ford has lost six Explorer rollover suits in the last year, which cost $151 million in jury verdicts. Since then, the company has more than a dozen trial dates set for this year.

Omar Medina, the plaintiff's attorney in the Mississippi case, who introduced the new evidence said, "the tests showed this isn't a tire issue. It's a vehicle issue."

For more information on crashworthiness and defective tires, contact us to confer with an attorney.

More Articles:

Defective door latch class action lawsuits name Magna Donnelly

Recent News

The federal government is under increasing pressure to impose tougher regulations on vehicle crashworthiness. In a long overdue effort, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration...