Goodyear tyres linked to eight deaths, says report

Published Oct 26, 2000

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Los Angeles - Light-truck tyres made by Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Company had been linked to least eight deaths but had so far drawn little attention from federal safety regulators, The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday.

The Goodyear tyre failures involved 16-inch Load Range E tyres manufactured mainly for commercial vehicles, trailers, passenger vans and large sport-utility vehicles, the paper said, citing court documents.

Goodyear became aware of what one of its own engineers labelled an "alarming" problem with the tyres five years ago and made a design change to make the tyres stronger, according to the report.

But the company did not recall the older tyres, millions of which are still on the road, including the popular Goodyear Wrangler AT and HT.

While Goodyear defended its actions, saying it had found no defects in the tyres, it has quietly settled several of about 20 lawsuits resulting from crashes.

Settlement amounts and company documents turned over in these cases had been kept secret, a move that drew criticism from consumer groups and plaintiffs attorneys, the report said.

The suits blame tread separation, virtually identical to the problems experienced by Firestone tyres mounted on the Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle.

The true number of casualties that have resulted from the failure of Goodyear light-truck tyres is not known because there has been so little publicity about them, the paper said.

Officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have acknowledged that in the last three years they have received 59 reports of tyre failure - including one fatality - involving Goodyear light-truck tyres.

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