Goodyear Tires Under Scrutiny

Federal safety regulators said yesterday that they are monitoring dozens of consumer complaints about alleged failures in a wide variety of Goodyear Wrangler tires, but they have not decided to open an official investigation.

Over the past three years, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received 58 complaints about the tires, used on sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks. Two dozen complaints to NHTSA involved Goodyears on SUVs, including seven on the best-selling Ford Explorer.

Many of the complaints cited tread separations, the same problem that led to the August recall of 6.5 million Firestone tires, most of them mounted on Explorers. The safety agency began the Firestone tire investigation this spring based on about 90 complaints.

The complaints to NHTSA about Goodyear tires cited one injury and one fatality; 46 complaints were filed after the Firestone recall was announced.

Goodyear spokesman Chuck Sinclair said yesterday that the company was not aware of the scope of the complaints NHTSA cited yesterday. The firm has been studying heavy-duty tires designed for larger vehicles, often used for business, because of 25 lawsuits filed against it. He said Goodyear knows of 30 accidents and 15 deaths related to those tires. Five of the 25 cases have been settled, he added.

Sinclair said the company did not believe the accidents cited in the lawsuits were the result of any safety defect--which would require the tiremaker to report to the government. The alleged failures were not related to the design or manufacture of the tire, he said. "Every single tire we've had the opportunity to examine has shown an indication of impact damage, puncture, or was underinflated and on a vehicle that was overloaded."

NHTSA spokesman Tim Hurd said the agency was not aware of the lawsuits against Goodyear and is seeking information about them. He said "the 58 complaints are all over the map." The complaints "do not, at this time, represent a trend" that "warrants a formal defect investigation," NHTSA said in a statement releasing the complaints.

"This is not a Firestone tire recall situation," Goodyear said in a statement. Goodyear officials discussed the complaints and the lawsuits with NHTSA yesterday.

In 1996, Goodyear modified some of its tires after it concluded vehicles were becoming larger and heavier. Sinclair said the change--a nylon overlay--was not to correct any defect but to make the tire more robust.

According to a summary of the lawsuits collated by one lawyer, the cases filed against Goodyear involve 16-inch Wrangler AT, Wrangler HT and All-Season Workhorse tires and several models of Kelly-Springfield tires, which are made by Goodyear. Many of these tires were installed as replacement tires on such vehicles as Chevrolet pickup trucks, Ford's Club Wagon and Econoline vans, and the Chevrolet Suburban.

"These tires are on vehicles that carry lots of passengers, so if they fail, there is a potential for serious injuries," said Arizona lawyer Tom Dasse, who has filed two suits against Goodyear.

In responding to NHTSA's inquiries in its investigation into the failure of Firestone tires, Goodyear said, it did not include any data about the heavy-duty tires cited in the lawsuits because it did not believe the tires had a higher-than-average incident rate.

Federal class-action and personal-injury cases filed against Ford Motor Co. and Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. over the recalled tires were consolidated yesterday and assigned to a federal judge in Indianapolis. U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker, a former prosecutor appointed by President Ronald Reagan, will oversee the pretrial discovery and motions.

"We believe the consolidation will prove beneficial for all of the parties in terms of expediency and resources required to complete the discovery process," said Susan Krusel, a Ford spokeswoman.

Some plaintiffs' lawyers opposed the consolidation on the grounds that their clients' injury claims would get lost in the shuffle. Yesterday's court ruling applies only to the exchange of information. Individual suits eventually will be sent back to the courts in which they were filed for trial.

By Cindy Skrzycki and Caroline E. Mayer
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, October 26, 2000; Page E03