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Thursday, September 7, 2000

Firestone's top boss apologizes
Also: Data show safety fears known of earlier
By Nedra Pickler
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The CEO of Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. apologized Wednesday before angry members of Congress for dozens of fatal accidents that may be linked to his company's tires. The chief executive of Ford Motor Co. insisted his company could not be blamed.
   At the same time, internal Bridgestone/ Firestone documents obtained by The Associated Press showed the company may have had data indicating safety problems years before the Aug. 9 recall of 6.5 million tires. Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., said he believed the data was available as early as 1992.
   "Where was your sense of concern, as a human being and a corporation, to yell: 'Look out, America! Danger is coming!'" demanded Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.
   At separate House and Senate hearings, lawmakers admonished the tire maker and Ford, which uses Firestone tires on its popular Explorer and other models, for not notifying the public there was a problem even though complaints about the tires had been made for years around the world.
   Ford began a recall of the tires in 16 foreign countries more than a year before the U.S. recall, but was not required by law to notify federal officials and did not do so.
   The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received more than 1,400 complaints, including reports of 88 deaths and at least 250 injuries that may be linked to the Firestone tires.
   "I come before you to apologize to you, the American people and especially to the families who have lost loved ones in these terrible rollover accidents," Bridgestone/Firestone CEO Masatoshi Ono - who rarely makes public appearances - told the Senate Appropriations Committee's transportation panel in halting English.
   "I also come to accept full and personal responsibility on behalf of Bridgestone/Firestone for the events that led to this hearing," Ono said.
   Ono, who had Japanese interpreters beside him to translate, said the cause of the tire problems has not been determined. "However, you have my word that we will continue until we find the cause," he said.
   NHTSA in May began investigating accidents in which Firestone tires suddenly lost their tread or suffered blowouts. Many cases involved Ford Explorers rolling over.
   Ford CEO Jac Nasser, appearing before the House Commerce Committee's oversight and investigations panel, said his company's vehicles are safe. "This is a tire issue, not a vehicle issue," he said, repeating the company's mantra.
   "We have millions of Goodyear tires on 1995 through 1997 Explorers - the same specification tire operating under the same conditions - and they haven't experienced these problems," he said.
   But NHTSA Administrator Sue Bailey said many of the accidents were caused by a combination of flawed Firestone tires and characteristics of the Ford Explorer, which like other sport utility vehicles has a higher center of gravity and is more apt than a car to roll over.
   It "clearly is a combination of situations that produced the outcome," she said.
   Bridgestone/Firestone is recalling 6.5 million tires: the P235/75R15-size ATX and ATX II models, as well as similarly sized Wilderness AT tires.
   Most of the tires were made at its plant in Decatur, Ill.
   Last week, NHTSA issued a warning about the safety of 1.4 million tires beyond the 6.5 million recalled models. Bridgestone/Firestone continues to insist there is no reason to expand the recall to include those tires.
   Also last week, Venezuela's consumer protection agency recommended that Ford and Firestone be held criminally responsible for 46 deaths in that country.
   The internal Bridgestone/Firestone documents marked "confidential" but made available to the AP showed more than half of the property damage and injury claims the company received from 1997 to 1999 were for the kind of ATX II tires now under recall.
   According to the documents, most of the customer reports of tread separation involved tires from the company's Decatur plant. More than a third involved the P235/75R15 size tires now under recall.
   Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone have long said no statistics were compiled showing problems with the tires until Ford, in late July and early August, analyzed Bridgestone/Firestone's claims of property damage or injuries.
   The documents are undated, so it is unclear when the data were compiled.
   However, Tauzin, who presided over the House hearing, said such information was available to Firestone since 1992.
   Ford officials said they had no knowledge of the documents, while Bridgestone/Firestone officials did not respond to AP requests for comment.

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