[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 116 (Tuesday, June 17, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35941-35944]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-15191]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration


Denial of Tire Defect Petition

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Denial of petition for a defect investigation.

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SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the reasons for the denial of a 
petition submitted to NHTSA under 49 U.S.C. 30162, by Lisoni & Lisoni, 
Attorneys at Law, and the Law Offices of Steven E. Weinberger, 
requesting that the agency commence a proceeding to determine the 
existence of a defect related to motor vehicle safety in Firestone 
Steeltex light truck radial tires. After a review of the petition and 
other information, NHTSA has concluded that further expenditure of the 
agency's investigative resources on the issues raised by the petition 
does not appear warranted. The agency accordingly has denied the 
petition. The petition is hereinafter identified as DP02-011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Gregory Magno, Safety Defects 
Engineer, Vehicle Control Division, Office of Defects Investigation 
(ODI), NHTSA, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590. Telephone: 
(202) 366-0139.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Petition Analysis--DP02-011

Introduction

    On September 29, 2000, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) 
initiated a Preliminary Evaluation (PE00-040) of Firestone Steeltex 
tires manufactured by Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. (Firestone), based on 
169 Vehicle Owners Questionnaires (VOQ), 167 of which were received in 
August and September of 2000.\1\ Eight crashes involving twelve 
injuries and two deaths related to separation of the tread and top belt 
from the tire carcass (tread separation) were alleged at that time. 
Under investigation in that PE were all Firestone Steeltex Radial R4S, 
R4S II, and A/T tires manufactured since 1990.
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    \1\ References to VOQs herein include all consumer complaints 
registered in the ODI complaint database.
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    ODI closed PE00-040 on April 9, 2002, based upon low failure rates, 
noting that Steeltex tire lines are used in very severe tire 
applications (e.g., motorhomes, commercial trucks, full-sized passenger 
vans, sport-utility vehicles, and pickup trucks). At the time ODI 
closed the investigation, it was aware of 872 relevant VOQs and 39 
vehicle crashes, 24 of which involved an injury or death. These 
resulted in eight deaths and 40 injuries.
    Subsequent to the closing of PE00-040, the Petitioners requested 
that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reopen 
its Steeltex tire investigation.\2\ According to the Petitioners, a 
reopening was warranted based on an overwhelming number of complaints 
that had been filed on the subject tires. ODI initiated a technical 
review (DP02-011) of the Petition in accordance with 49 CFR part 552 on 
November 26, 2002. To support this review, ODI requested that the 
Petitioners furnish additional documentation to substantiate their 
allegations. Since that time, the

[[Page 35942]]

Petitioners have supplied ODI with 44 separate submissions numbering 
over 6,000 pages, the most recent of which arrived on June 5, 2003.
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    \2\ Specifically, on November 15, 2002, ODI received a document 
entitled ``A Petition to The National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration . . . Subject: Investigation of Defects Present in 
Bridgestone/Firestone Steeltex tires (models: R4S, R4SII, A/T)'' 
(Petition). After reviewing the document, ODI construed it as a 
request to reopen PE00-040. The Petition was co-submitted by Lisoni 
& Lisoni, Attorneys at Law and the Law Offices of Steven E. 
Weinberger, both in Pasadena, CA (Petitioners). The Petitioners 
represent plaintiffs Roger Littell, Louann Pleasant, and all others 
similarly situated in a class action lawsuit against Bridgestone/
Firestone, filed on August 12, 2002, in the Superior Court of 
California for Riverside County.
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    The subject Steeltex tires are large light truck radials that are 
produced as both original equipment and replacement tires. Firestone 
produced approximately 39 million of these tires in three different 
lines (R4S, R4S II, and A/T), 12 different sizes, and 3 different load 
ranges. Most of the subject tires are in the highest load range for 
light vehicles (<= 10,000 lb Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) Load Range E 
(LRE). The original equipment tires have been used on Ford and General 
Motors vehicles, as well as by a wide range of motorhome manufacturers.
    In general, light truck radial tires are constructed with thicker 
gauges of rubber and heavier steel belts and are designed to hold 
significantly greater inflation pressures than passenger tires. These 
tires are more sensitive to impact damage and to variations in speed, 
load, and inflation pressure than passenger tires.
    After reviewing information submitted in support of the Petition 
and analyzing additional complaint and claims information obtained from 
Firestone, ODI has decided to deny the request to reopen the Steeltex 
investigation. This decision is based on the fact that an enormous 
population of tires is at issue whose failure rate is lower than that 
of peer tires used in similar applications and has changed little since 
PE00-040 was closed. ODI has not identified a defect trend in any of 
the tires in question.

Petitioners' Allegations

    The Petitioners have made numerous allegations in 44 separate 
submissions including over 6,000 pages of materials. These allegations 
include:
    1. That there were 2,972 VOQs in ODI's database (as accessed via 
the NHTSA public Web site) as of November 2002, most of which existed 
when ODI closed PE00-040 but were not considered during the 
investigation;
    2.That additional complaints gathered by the Petitioners strongly 
suggest a safety defect trend; and
    3.That all Steeltex tires contain a safety-related defect that 
could lead to a catastrophic tread separation.

ODI Analysis of Petitioners' Allegations

First Allegation: VOQs in NHTSA's Web site Not Noted in Closing of 
PE00-040
    The Petitioners allege that they identified 2,972 VOQs on the 
subject tires on NHTSA's Web site in October 2002. They further allege 
that most of these VOQs existed at the time that PE00-040 was closed. 
More recently, they have been quoted in the media as claiming that as 
of May 2003, the NHTSA Web site contained 4,000 records concerning 
``Steeltex-related accidents.'' \3\
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    \3\ Rubber & Plastics News, Lawyer: Document Shows BFS Skimped 
on Steeltex, May 12, 2003.
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    The Petitioners provided hard copy summaries of the 2,972 VOQs they 
identified. A review of these VOQs, however, demonstrates that a 
majority are duplicate records. In addition, a significant number do 
not involve the Steeltex tires at issue. For instance, the Petitioners 
included VOQs that pertain to tires such as Firestone 721 tires and 
Steeltex ASR tires last produced in 1992, as well as VOQs reporting 
issues unrelated to tread separation, such as wear and vibration. Also 
included in their submissions were VOQs that do not pertain to tires at 
all (e.g., complaints about vehicle stalling and brake malfunction).
    ODI has conducted a thorough review of its complaint database to 
assess the Petitioners' claims. This review found that as of April 
2002, when PE00-040 was closed, the database contained 930 VOQs related 
to a Steeltex tire failure. These include complaints about tires that 
were properly identified as Steeltex models or contained the word 
``Steeltex,'' or all reasonable misspellings of the word, in the 
complaint description field. About 60% of these (550) cited tread 
separations. The numbers of VOQs alleging crashes, injuries, and deaths 
from tread separation failures are consistent with those reported in 
PE00-040.
    Furthermore, ODI's review determined that as of November 2002, when 
the petition was submitted, the database contained 1,118 unique VOQs 
relating to Steeltex tire failures, less than 40% of the total asserted 
by the Petitioner. Of these, 672 alleged tread separations. Finally, as 
of May 2003, the ODI database contained 1,163 unique VOQs relating to 
Steeltex tire failures, 701 of which allege tread separation. These 
include 24 injury crashes for all tire failure modes, resulting in a 
total of six (6) deaths and 46 injuries. Tread separation was alleged 
as the failure mode in 14 of these crashes, which were responsible for 
all of the deaths and 30 of the injuries.
    In summary, the Petitioners overstated the number of relevant VOQs 
received by ODI when PE00-040 was closed, when the petition was 
submitted, and in May 2003. Many of these discrepancies are apparently 
due to the Petitioners' inclusion of duplicate complaints, complaints 
that do not involve the tires at issue, and complaints that do not 
allege a tire failure.
Second Allegation: The Number of VOQs and the Number of Additional 
Complaints Establishes a Safety Defect Trend
    The Petitioners characterize the VOQs in the ODI database and a 
purported 7,000 additional complaints that they have collected as 
evidence of a safety defect trend. This material has been furnished to 
ODI in 44 different submissions throughout the petition analysis 
period. Their submissions contain a mixture of consumer complaints, 
subrogation claims, police accident reports, and court filings.
    The Petitioners have attributed most of their purported 7,000 
complaints to certain unidentified insurance companies in the United 
States who have added their policyholders to the Petitioners' class 
action lawsuit. However, the Petitioners have stated that the majority 
of these remain anonymous, and therefore have not furnished details 
concerning these allegations to ODI. Instead, they furnished an 
Internet listing of 1,150 insurance companies. In view of the 
incomplete nature of this information, we have been unable to evaluate 
these complaints. Subsequently, the Petitioners submitted some 
insurance claim information from companies that have responded to their 
solicitations. In the cases reviewed by ODI, the events described are 
those in which the companies chose not to pursue a subrogation claim 
against Firestone. In one case, a submitted claim pertained to a non-
subject Firehawk R4S tire.
    Of those reports and complaints that ODI was able to examine, many 
were merely completed copies of the Petitioner's Class Action Initial 
Claim forms. Other ``complaints'' consist of excerpts from Internet 
chat room discussions and what appear to be handwritten notes of names 
and telephone numbers. In addition, the content of many of the 
``complaints'' was of questionable value, and included complaints 
concerning dissatisfaction over the wear or ride of the subject tires 
and complaints pertaining to tires not at issue. Of note, many of these 
complaints originated from consumers whose claims for reimbursement had 
been denied by Firestone. After excluding VOQ summaries and duplicate 
records, ODI was able to identify 560 complaints. These included 161 
complaints alleging a Steeltex tire failure, of which 99 alleged a 
tread separation.

[[Page 35943]]

    ODI has monitored its VOQ database since the closing of PE00-040. 
This review has shown that over time, the monthly rate of Steeltex VOQs 
received by ODI has continually declined since the initial three-month 
peak that led to the opening of PE00-040. We note that the Petitioners 
have consistently overstated the contents of the ODI database by 
applying over-broad search criteria and then failing to properly 
identify relevant VOQs.
    In order to obtain more relevant data, ODI contacted Firestone for 
its claims data, which it provided irrespective of whether the claim 
was paid. Firestone also provided warranty, personal injury, and 
lawsuit data through the end of 2002. ODI's analysis of this data is 
described in the Firestone Data section of this report.
Third Allegation: All Steeltex Tires Are Defective
    The Petitioners allege that all of the subject Steeltex tires 
contain a safety-related defect. As evidence of this they have cited 
expert examination of some failed tires, information from an anonymous 
source regarding a Firestone cost reduction program, and alleged 
similarities between the Steeltex tires and the Wilderness AT tires, 
some of which were previously recalled by Firestone.
    One of the Petitioners' consultants examined failed tires from a 
model year 1999 Class C motorhome belonging to the lead plaintiff in 
the class action lawsuit. This vehicle experienced tread separations on 
four of its six original tires over a one-year period. All were 
Steeltex R4S LT225/75R16 E tires manufactured at Firestone's Decatur, 
Illinois plant in 1998. The consultant identified the presence of 
brassy cords in the steel belts of the failed tires as evidence that 
they were improperly manufactured. The Petitioners provided a dissected 
exemplar tire from the same vehicle for ODI's examination, citing 
evidence of brassy cords and belt edge separation.
    ODI did observe some evidence of brassy cords and localized belt 
edge separation in the tire presented by the Petitioners. However, ODI 
notes that some degree of brassy cords is not necessarily evidence of a 
rubber-wire adhesion defect. Moreover, the presence of moderate belt 
edge separation is not unusual in a steel belted radial tire that has 
been removed from service, and must be evaluated in the context of the 
tire use conditions and remaining tread. It is noteworthy that ODI's 
extensive investigation of the Firestone ATX and Wilderness AT tires 
did not find any evidence of a rubber-wire adhesion defect in those 
tires. The failure mechanism in the ATX and Wilderness AT tires was a 
cohesive failure (fatigue crack growth) through the rubber between the 
steel belts.\4\
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    \4\ More specifics concerning the tread separations examined in 
that investigation may be found in the EA00-023 Initial 
Determination Report.
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    In a letter dated April 26, 2003, the Petitioners submitted a copy 
of an anonymous letter to ODI with documents attached relating to a 
Firestone cost reduction initiative known as C95 that was launched in 
1994 or 1995. The letter states that the intent of C95 was to obtain 
cost reductions without sacrificing performance and quality but that 
over time a negative effect on quality became evident in the warranty 
data. According to the letter, warranty rates of 0.5% or higher in 
individual tires (by factory and product code) should be cause for 
serious concern.
    ODI has reviewed the anonymous letter and attached C95 documents 
submitted by the Petitioners. The second attachment is a 17-page 
document listing a number of changes to consider for corporate-wide 
implementation. The document does not relate specifically to the 
Steeltex tires. Firestone has stated that most of the items on the list 
were never implemented. While the changes that were considered include 
some items that could affect tire durability, the document is not in 
and of itself proof of a tire defect. The effect of the changes that 
were implemented in the Steeltex tires can ultimately be measured only 
by failure-related data. To that extent, ODI agrees with the author of 
the anonymous letter that such an analysis must be done separately on 
specific products and assembly plants. The only data that allow that 
type of analysis are the Firestone adjustments and claims.
    ODI's analysis of Firestone's tread separation warranty adjustment 
data found that collectively the Steeltex tire tread separation 
adjustment rate is 0.04%. ODI also analyzed over 250 different 
combinations of individual tire product codes, plants, and production 
years and identified only one population of tires with a tread 
separation adjustment rate greater than 0.5%--the level of concern 
advanced in the anonymous letter.\5\ The adjustment rate for this tire 
was 0.56% for tires produced in 1993, fell to 0.09% in 1994, and 
remained below 0.1% through 2002 production. The majority of subject 
Steeltex tires analyzed by ODI have tread separation adjustment rates 
that are less than 0.1%. Only a few tires have rates that are above 
0.25%--half of the 0.5% figure mentioned above.
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    \5\ Tires with annual production volumes less than 10,000 tires 
were not included in this analysis because of the lack of 
statistical significance in the data and the absence of any injury 
crashes involving such tires.
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    The Petitioners have alleged to ODI that the subject Steeltex tires 
are similar in construction and failure mechanism to the Wilderness AT 
tires investigated by ODI in EA00-023. The Petitioners have not 
identified any specific aspects of the designs that are similar. 
Moreover, the Wilderness AT tires are passenger tires designed for 
light-duty passenger car/truck operation, whereas the subject Steeltex 
light truck radial tires are designed for the greater rigors of use on 
heavier pickup trucks, SUVs, and vans. As noted above, there was no 
evidence of rubber-wire adhesion failures in the Wilderness AT tires 
that were recalled. Furthermore, ODI notes that belt-leaving belt tread 
separations may occur in any steel-belted radial tire and that the 
available data indicate that the risk of such failures is greater in 
light truck radial tires than in passenger tires.

Firestone Data

    ODI reviewed thousands of Firestone property damage claims and 
found that between the closing of PE00-040 and the present, the subject 
tire tread separation claim rate grew from 28 to 31 claims per million 
tires produced (ppm).\6\ Steeltex LRE claim rates for tread separation 
grew from 38 to 40 ppm. The four largest LRE tire sizes are associated 
with the majority of the property damage claims and 85% (28/33) of 
crashes involving injuries or deaths where the tire size could be 
identified.
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    \6\ This figure is based on paid claims. Firestone furnished 
records of both paid and unpaid claims to ODI. Claims are not paid 
if the tire cannot be identified, was repaired improperly, shows 
obvious signs of abuse (e.g. run underinflated, impact breaks), or 
were found to be misapplied.
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    With one exception, all crashes involving an injury fall within the 
1997-1999 production years of this group of LRE tires.\7\ Three tire 
populations within this group are associated with all fatal crashes 
occurring in the last five years: The R4S II LT245/75R16 E manufactured 
in Cuernavaca, Mexico and the A/T LT265/75R16 E and A/T LT265/75R16 D, 
both manufactured in Joliette, Quebec. However, a close examination of 
the frequencies and trends of the adjustment and claims data for these 
populations do not show evidence of

[[Page 35944]]

defect trends. The adjustment and claims rates are low in comparison to 
peer tires, and the incidence of injury crashes do not reflect a trend 
for any specific tire.
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    \7\ A Decatur Steeltex Radial R4S LT235/85R16 E tire 
manufactured in 1993 was involved in a March 1996 fatal rollover of 
a large passenger van. Closer examination of this tire population 
showed no sign of a defect trend.
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    ODI analyzed all available data relating to the Decatur Steeltex 
R4S LT225/75R16 E tire installed on the lead plaintiff's motorhome. 
These tires were manufactured from 1995-1999 and were used as original 
equipment on some Ford full-size pick-up trucks and vans and sold as 
replacement tires. The tires were also frequently installed on Class C 
motorhomes on which overloading of an axle or specific wheel position 
is not unusual, which can contribute to tire failures. The warranty 
rates for these tires have been less than 0.1% from 1997 through 1999, 
and were never greater than 0.3%. There have been only two injury 
crashes associated with tread separations in these tires, both 
involving full-sized vans, and no fatalities.
    As noted in PE00-040, the adjustment and claims tread separation 
rates for the subject tires are lower than those observed in peer LRE 
tires. This is true of the total population of subject tires, as well 
as individual tires analyzed by product code and assembly plant.

Discussion

    The subject Steeltex tires, as defined in the Petition, represent 
an immense population of 39 million tires, manufactured over twelve 
years, and a wide variety of different tire line, size, load range, and 
plant combinations. The numbers of tread separation failures in those 
tires are functions of the large volume produced and the more severe 
service conditions associated with light truck radial tires, especially 
in the LRE category. Within this universe of experience, ODI identified 
a total of 54 crashes involving injury, resulting in 106 injuries and 
13 deaths. Tread separation was alleged as the failure mode in 41 of 
these crashes, which were responsible for all of the deaths and 90 of 
the injuries.
    These failures are distributed among a variety of different tires 
and assembly plants. About half of these incidents involve tires 
manufactured at the Joliette assembly plant, which is consistent with 
the number of subject tires produced there. Firestone's examination of 
some of the tires involved in these events has identified evidence of 
under-inflation, impact break, shoulder damage, un-repaired punctures, 
and improper repair. In addition, some of the tires that were sold as 
replacement tires were misapplied. While ODI has not been able to 
independently examine these tires, we note that the facts related to 
the causes of many of these events are in dispute.
    ODI has monitored its VOQ database since it closed PE00-040, to 
identify Steeltex complaints and any related injury reports. In 
general, ODI has seen a continued decline in the rate of complaints 
received since October 2000, despite the publicity related to the 
Petition and associated class action lawsuit.
    To better analyze specific tire lines of interest, ODI examined 
property damage claim and warranty adjustment data furnished by 
Firestone. These data are both the largest bodies of failure data and 
the only data available that contain the specific tire identification 
information necessary to conduct detailed analyses by tire line and 
assembly plant. The overall Steeltex claims rate rose from 28 to 31 ppm 
between the closing of PE00-040 and the present, while the overall 
adjustment rate remained constant at 0.04%. Some individual tire 
populations had higher rates of adjustments and claims; however, none 
were as high as those of the competitor LRE tires examined by ODI.
    ODI examined the material submitted by the Petitioners in an effort 
to identify tire failures and crashes involving injury that could 
indicate the presence of a safety-related defect trend. Within this 
material, there were reports of 115 additional tire failures beyond 
those considered in PE00-040. These included three injury crashes, 
which led to four (4) injuries. Therefore, the fundamental statistics 
concerning the performance of the subject tires have changed little 
since PE00-040 was closed.

Conclusion

    Based on ODI's analysis of information submitted in support of the 
Petition and additional complaint and claims information received since 
the closing of PE00-040, it is unlikely that NHTSA would issue an order 
for the notification and remedy of a safety-related defect in the 
subject Steeltex tires at the conclusion of the investigation requested 
in the Petition. The statistics concerning the performance of these 
tires have changed little since the closing of PE00-040 and no specific 
defect trend has been identified. Therefore, in view of the need to 
allocate and prioritize NHTSA's limited resources to best accomplish 
the agency's safety mission, ODI has decided to deny the petition to 
reopen the Steeltex investigation. ODI will continue to monitor the 
performance of these tires for any signs that a defect trend may be 
developing.

    Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30162(d); delegations of authority at CFR 
1.50 and 501.8.

    Issued on: June 11, 2003.
Kenneth N. Weinstein,
Associate Administrator for Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 03-15191 Filed 6-16-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P