Firestone Case Danger on the Highway: Bridgeston/Fireston's Tire Recall
Firestone Case
Danger on the Highway: Bridgestone/Firestone¡¦s Tire Recall
Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., based in Nashville, Tennessee, has been in the business of making tires since 1900, when Harvey Firestone founded the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio. Firestone was acquired by Bridgestone USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Bridgestone Corporation, in 1990 for $2.6 billion. Today, the company markets 8,000 different types and sizes of tires, and a host of other products. The company has also enjoyed a long and prosperous relationship with Ford Motor Company which began in 1906 when Henry Ford purchased 2,000 sets of tires from Harvey Firestone. Despite emerging as a leader in the tire industry, Bridgestone/Firestone has faced several crises related to its tire¡¦s safety. In 1978, Firestone recalled 14.5 million tires¡Xthe largest tire recall at the time¡Xafter excess application of the adhesives binding the rubber and steel resulted in 500 tread separations and blowouts. The company also paid a $500,000 fine for concealing safety problems. However, this incident paled in comparison to problems the company faced in the late 1990s, which quickly grew to affect its relationship with Ford as well.
In July 1998, a State Farm Insurance researcher advised the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that he had found twenty cases of tread failure associated with Firestone tires dating back to 1992. He was politely thanked, but no action resulted. In January 2000, Houston television station KHOU aired a nine-minute story on tread-separation accidents in Texas. After the story aired, many people called the station to relate their own stories of Firestone tire failures, most on them on Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicles. These were relayed to Joan Claybrook, former chief of the NHTSA. Finally, Sean Kane, a former employee of the Center for Auto Safety and the founder of Strategic Safety, a research organization, also tried to alert the
Danger on the Highway: Bridgestone/Firestone¡¦s Tire Recall
Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., based in Nashville, Tennessee, has been in the business of making tires since 1900, when Harvey Firestone founded the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio. Firestone was acquired by Bridgestone USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Bridgestone Corporation, in 1990 for $2.6 billion. Today, the company markets 8,000 different types and sizes of tires, and a host of other products. The company has also enjoyed a long and prosperous relationship with Ford Motor Company which began in 1906 when Henry Ford purchased 2,000 sets of tires from Harvey Firestone. Despite emerging as a leader in the tire industry, Bridgestone/Firestone has faced several crises related to its tire¡¦s safety. In 1978, Firestone recalled 14.5 million tires¡Xthe largest tire recall at the time¡Xafter excess application of the adhesives binding the rubber and steel resulted in 500 tread separations and blowouts. The company also paid a $500,000 fine for concealing safety problems. However, this incident paled in comparison to problems the company faced in the late 1990s, which quickly grew to affect its relationship with Ford as well.
In July 1998, a State Farm Insurance researcher advised the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that he had found twenty cases of tread failure associated with Firestone tires dating back to 1992. He was politely thanked, but no action resulted. In January 2000, Houston television station KHOU aired a nine-minute story on tread-separation accidents in Texas. After the story aired, many people called the station to relate their own stories of Firestone tire failures, most on them on Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicles. These were relayed to Joan Claybrook, former chief of the NHTSA. Finally, Sean Kane, a former employee of the Center for Auto Safety and the founder of Strategic Safety, a research organization, also tried to alert the