WASHINGTON (Oct. 11, 2000)—The Ford Explorer has a higher rate of tire-related accidents than other sport-utility vehicles, regardless of the make of tire, according to a report in the Washington Post.
Analyzing accident data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, which lists national data on fatal accidents, and the Florida Uniform Traffic Crash data, the Post determined that tire blowouts happened four times as often in Firestone-equipped Explorers and more than twice as often in Goodyear-equipped Explorers than with other SUVs.
The Post also said the Explorer was 13 percent more likely to roll over in an accident than other compact SUVs. The paper quoted analysts as saying that this finding "suggests that something about the Explorer may be contributing to these accidents."
Officials at Ford Motor Co., Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. and Goodyear weren´t available for comment, but the Post quoted Ford and Goodyear as saying the number of accidents examined were too small to be meaningful and the paper´s analysis flawed.