Word: tires
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...Taylor, a junior high school cheerleader who died in a car accident Oct. 16, 1998, on the way to a homecoming football game outside her hometown of Mexia, Texas. A friend of Taylor's mother was driving that day, and as the tread on the left-rear Firestone ATX tire allegedly peeled off like a banana, the Ford Explorer SUV veered left and rolled over...
...most tire companies have successfully done in court over the years, Firestone ruled out a problem with the tires from the start...
...would come up with a whitewash that companies would use in their defense. But Roberts, spurred on by the dead girl's parents, decided to help NHTSA do its job. Through an official, he let the agency know about his discovery, helping galvanize what would become the second largest tire recall in U.S. history, covering Firestone's 15-inch Radial ATX, ATX II and certain Wilderness models. "Once the cat gets out of the bag," says one of Roberts' fellow attorneys, "it's hard to put it back...
...Barely a day goes by that its sharp claws don't leave a nasty mark. Frightened by the news, Americans by the hundreds of thousands have put themselves on waiting lists for tire replacements. Auto-repair shops have had to field countless calls from panicked customers clamoring to have their tires checked, worried about every tiny shred, every tear on the tread. Nothing last week allayed those fears. On Thursday NHTSA raised to 88 the total deaths attributed to the defective tires and the number of injuries to 250. Meanwhile, Firestone's voluntary recall has so far replaced only close...
...seemingly endless spell of bad news is creating a wider and wider gulf between Ford and Firestone. "This is a tire issue, not a vehicle issue," Ford CEO Jacques Nasser stressed last week, distancing himself from the company's partner for nearly a century. But Firestone, while loath to alienate such a valuable customer, says the lower level of air pressure Ford recommended for the tires - 26 psi, compared with Firestone's suggested 30 psi - may have contributed to the trouble. Ford has decided to end its exclusive contract with Firestone and use an additional tire supplier, Michelin...