The Ford Explorer is one of the most popular vehicles of all time and when consumers bought it, they also bought Firestone tires. Unfortunately, serious safety issues then followed and both the Ford Explorer and Firestone tires were ultimately tied to at least 174 deaths in U.S. traffic accidents and over 700 automotive injuries. It remains unclear whether the major design/production flaw lay with Ford or with Bridgestone-Firestone but the problem has not only cost them billions of dollars but it has also ended a 95 year partnership between the two companies.
Recently Ford Motor Co. announced plans to replace more than ten million Firestone tires that remained on several Ford Explorers still in use. This was a number that far surpassed the initial firestone tire recall ordered last summer by Bridgestone-Firestone. Ford has taken this unprecedented move to replace a product that is not even it’s own because they claim to have concerns about the safety of any of their vehicles using Bridgestone-Firestone tires. These specific tires, the Bridgestone-Firestone Wilderness AT have not been recalled by Bridgestone-Firestone but more than 200 people were reported killed and hundreds more injured in rollover crashes after the tire tread separated from the tire itself.
Ford has promised to replace all 15 inch, 16 inch and 17 inch Wilderness AT tires on any Ford vehicles for free at any Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealers. If a consumer needs to buy the tired elsewhere, Ford has also promised to reimburse owners for up to $130.00 for the 16 inch and 17 inch tires. This is a rare move on the part of the automaker and an expensive one.
One of the challenges in the Ford Explorer/Bridgestone-Firestone situation is truly determining culpability. Neither party has come forward as being responsible and there has been quite a bit of finger pointing between Ford and Bridgestone-Firestone. Ford blames the tires for the high incidence of roll-overs because of tread separation issues while Bridgestone-Firestone blames ford vehicles for their propensity to roll after entering into a rear axle "skate" which makes the vehicles impossible to control. Specifically, Ford has cited tires produced at a specific Bridgestone-Firestone plant in a Decatur, Illinois plant as being the root of the problem.
Both Ford and Bridgestone-Firestone have paid a great deal of money to people who have sued over injury or death. In January of 2006, Ford was ordered to pay $29 million to the 22-year-old victim of an accident that occurred when the Firestone tire on her Explorer failed and the vehicle rolled over. Firestone settled the case out of court for an undisclosed sum of money.
The plaintiff’s attorney raised issues about culpability and attention to the issue of tire age and the necessary disclosures from automakers needed to help keep consumers safe. In this case, the manufacturers knew about the problem of tires de-treading with age for some time but failed to warn the public.
If you were injured in an accident where you were either in a Ford Explorer, or using Firestone tires, you should speak with a product liability attorney. It’s possible that you may have the opportunity to file a claim against one or both of these manufacturers for compensation related to your injury.