Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. Testifies
Before Senate Commerce CommitteeCompany Reinstates Inspection
and Replacement Program
For Tires Identified In NHTSA's Sept. 1 Consumer
Advisory
WASHINGTON – Sept. 12, 2000
– In strongly-worded language, an
official of Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. (BFS) told the Senate
Commerce Committee today that the company was taking full responsibility
for the failures that led to the recall of an estimated 6.5
million tires while at the same time agreeing that government
safety standards should address updating tire standards and
the relationship between the tire and vehicle.
“We are not vehicle experts,”
John Lampe, BFS Executive Vice President told the legislators,
adding that there are still critical issues to be studied regarding
the interaction between tires and vehicles. He suggested the
industry and government step up efforts to deal with safety
issues. “The issues relating to these vehicles have, regrettably,
been difficult for us,” Lampe said, adding that these issues
– including rollovers, tire inflation and overloading –
“may have made it harder for us to see the [tire] problems
that we have now recognized.”
Acknowledging that the August 9 voluntary
recall has “shaken the trust and confidence of the American
people in our products and our company,” Lampe emphasized
that the 100-year-old company was committed to restoring that
confidence. “We make great tire products on which millions
of customers have driven billions of safe miles.” Lampe
also said the company was committed to working with the auto
industry and government safety regulators to develop early warning
systems to identify failure treads and pressed for tire pressure
indicators in the vehicle.
The official said the company had narrowed
the focus of its investigation to the combination of design
and process issues relating to the Wilderness AT P235/75R/15
tires manufactured at the Decatur plant. There are other issues
that still need investigation regarding the tire failures.
He also suggested the safety issue was more complicated than
tire failure, and he announced the appointment of Dr. Sanjay
Govindjee, an Associate Professor in the Civil and Environmental
Engineering Department at the University of California, Berkeley,
as an independent third party to solve what he called “the
tire piece of the puzzle.”
Lampe also announced
that for customers who may be concerned about tires in the National
Highway Transportation Safety Administration Consumer Advisory,
BFS is providing free inspections at company-owned stores and
authorized retailers. Furthermore, the company is prepared
to replace any of the tires covered by the Advisory dated Sept.
1, “if a customer is still concerned...if necessary, we
will use competitor’s products.” If a customer chooses
to visit a competitor’s location to obtain replacement
tires under this program, BFS will reimburse customers up to
$140 per tire.
“Obviously, if there is a problem,
we’ll fix it,” Lampe said.
