WASHINGTON (March 27, 2002)—Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to remove a notice on its Web site that says Cooper is recalling all its steel-belted radial tires from 1985 up to the first production period in 2002.
“These tires could possibly experience tread separation,” the notice states, adding, “This is not considered by the agency a safety recall.”
The population of tires corresponds with those Cooper named in a proposed class-action settlement agreement currently before a New Jersey court. But the court has not yet approved that agreement, according to a Cooper spokeswoman.
“This is not a recall, and we have never called it that,” she said.