PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. (Jan. 16, 2004) –- The Tire Retread Information Bureau is protesting disparaging remarks made about retreads in author Stephen King's latest novel, “From a Buick 8.”
TRIB Managing Director Harvey Brodsky said he is sending a letter to Mr. King urging him to make a public statement correcting his inaccurate depiction of retreads and is asking other TRIB members also to send letters of protest.
The following statement on pages two and three of the book is what's raised TRIB's ire:
“A lot of independents run on recaps, with the price of diesel so high they just about have to, and sometimes the tread peels loose. You see curls and hunks of it on the interstate all the time, lying on the highway or pushed off into the breakdown lane like the shed skins of giant blacksnakes. It's dangerous to be behind a flapper, especially on a twolane….”
In his letter to Mr. King, Mr. Brodsky noted that because the horror story author has a large readership, the above message that retreads “are unsafe can do our industry nothing but harm. We are already the Rodney Dangerfield of the tire industry due to the mistaken perception people have because of tire debris.”
Along with the letter, TRIB plans to send Mr. King a video on the true causes of tire debris on the nation's roadways.