The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has decided not to launch a formal safety investigation into the much-maligned Ford Explorer after the Firestone tyre company claimed it was prone to oversteering and not safe.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has decided not to launch a formal safety investigation into the much-maligned Ford Explorer after the Firestone tyre company claimed it was prone to oversteering and not safe.
Bridgestone/Firestone chief executive officer John Lampe told federal officials that his company had tested the Explorer and discovered four problems with the vehicle’s control and stability systems. But safety regulators said the data did not merit a formal probe.
“The data does not support Firestone’s contention that Explorers stand out from other sport-utility vehicles with respect to handling characteristics following a tread separation,” NHTSA administrator Jeffrey Runge said.
There have been 271 deaths and hundreds of injuries linked to tread separation problems of Firestone tyres on the Explorer, which caused the vehicles to roll over. Firestone and Ford have been fighting for more than 18 months over who was responsible for the problem on the vehicle.
Ford has insisted that the Firestone tyres were to blame for the rollovers, whereas the tyre company has attributed the accidents to a design fault on the Explorer. Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone have both recalled millions of tyres since last year. Ford chief financial officer Martin Inglis said the voluntary tyre-replacement programme, which cost an estimated R36 billion, is scheduled to be completed by the end of next month.
Ford was pleased with the announcement. “The decision is consistent with real-world performance data showing the Explorer to be among the safest of vehicles and NHTSA’s previous finding that many Firestone Wilderness AT tyres built before 1998 contain a safety defect," said Sue Cischke, Ford vice-president of environmental and safety engineering.
Jill Bratina, a spokeswoman for Firestone, said that safety regulators had made their determination and the company would not comment.
