The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Firestone" ...
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Blowout. How the tire problem turned into a crisis for Firestone and Ford. Lack of a database masked the pattern that led to yesterday's big recall. The heat and the pressure.
According to the article, "Yesterday, ine the face of a federal investigation into 46 deaths and more than 300 incidents involving Firestone tires that allegedly shredded on the highway, Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. said it would recall more than 6.5 million tires, the majority of them mounted as original equipment on Ford Motor Co. Explorers and other Ford light trucks. The Firestone brands affected are certain 15-inch Radial ATX and Radial ATX II tires produced in North America and certain Wilderness AT tires with product code P235/75R15 that were manufactured at Firestone's Decatur, Ill. plant."
Tags: Firestone; Ford; tires; blowouts; Ford Motor Company; Ford Explorers; Decatur; IL; deaths; danger; recall
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High and Mighty SUVs: The World's Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way
According to the contest questionnaire, "SUVs have taken over America's roads. Ad campaigns promote the vehicles as safer and "greener" than ordinary cars and easier to handle in bad weather. However, in actuality, the gas-guzzling SUVs poorly protect occupants during crashes and inflict horrific damage to other cars." PublicAffairsreports on the safety and the environmental record of SUVs--including the Ford-Firestone rollover controversy.
Tags: BOOK; SUVs; Ford; Firestone; National Highway Safety Administration; EPA; safety records; auto industry; Bradsher Bar; SUV manufacturers; BOOK PAGES-468
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Firestone
CBS News reports on "new dimensions of the Firestone Tire/Ford fiasco, as the first lawsuits were heard in court and new allegations involving other Firestone tires surfaced." The series exposes legal tricks Firestone used to delay trials and frustrate victims, and sheds light on some recently discovered problems with Firestone rescue vehicle tires. The major finding is that there is a pattern of cover-ups in regard to the tire blowouts both in Firestone and Ford. The investigative team has conducted off-the-record interviews with Firestone employees who confirm information on continuing flaws in production.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; consumer affairs; defective tires; road accidents; whistleblowers; SUVs; deaths; drivers; Ford Bronco; courts; lawyers; cars
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Further Problems of Safety Found For Light Trucks, Documents on Design of Explorer Reveal a Series of Compromises
Half of all cars purchased in the U.S. are in the light truck category, which include SUVs. "Ford designed its Explorer on a shoestring budget in the late 1980's, bolting a roomy car-like passenger cabin on top of the underbody of a Ranger pickup truck. The high-riding design made the vehicle more prone to rolling over... Sport utility vehicles, which many American busy partly because they seem safer than cars in collisions between the two, roll over so often that their occupants are just as likely to die in an accident as car occupants..."
Tags: Ford; SUV; sport utility vehicle; rollover rate; tire; Firestone; auto safety; consumer image; SUV drivers; mass production; design changes and flaws; payload; rear suspension; frame rails; track width; sides and roof alterations
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The Crusader
Bruce Kaster had been saying for fifteen years that a layer of nylon pasted over the steel belts in tires would decrease the chance of the tread peeling off on the highway, but no one listened. But more accidents occurred with Firestone tires and by the fall of 2000, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration "had officially blamed Firestone tires for 148 fatalities." Now the tire litigator's theories have finally become known. 'It's just kind of rewarding to find out that everything I was saying fifteen years ago-and it's just common sense-was right." Esquire Magazine profiles the fight Kaster is putting up against tire manufacturing companies and the kind of justice he wants to be upheld.
Tags: automobiles; Firestone tires; Ford Explorer; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; highways; car accidents
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Blowout
The National Journal examines how the Ford - Bridgestone/Firestone tire safety incident was a "case study in how corporations handle a Washington crisis." When the situation began in May of 2000, Ford was able to take immediate steps at diffusing the situation because of the large crisis response team it already had in place. Ford had a well-established Washington D.C. office for its lobbyists and legal teams to work out of as well as a PR firm to handle consumer issues. Conversely, Bridgestone/Firestone was left with no response team, and managed to take the majority of the flak for the recall. Bridgestone/Firestone went through several PR agency and legal firms during the course of the recall and subsequent Congressional hearings. As a result of the tire crisis Congress passed the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act, and Bridgestone/Firestone set up its first Washington office.
Tags: Transportation; automobile safety; tires; Bridgestone/Firestone; Ford
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Firestone
CBS News investigated Firestone and Ford companies. And even after they "initially insisted there was no problem and no need for a recall, we discovered compelling evidence of cover-ups. We uncovered documents showing the problem had been discussed among corporate executives for years, and we garnered exclusive interviews with insiders who case serious doubt on the story being told to the public by Firestone and Ford."
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Firestone Follow-Up
KIRO-TV reveals "the resale of used, recalled Firestone tires." Through hidden camera investigation the report exposes "tire stores putting potentially dangerous tires back on the road" and "customers cheating Firestone by swapping old tires for new ones." The reporters find that "spare tires on some new Ford trucks were identical to all the recalled tires."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; safety; defects; Consumer Protection Act; black market
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Treading on Danger?
KHOU-TV began investigating car tires that lost their tread in December of 1999 "after receiving viewer complaints and a tip from a local Houston lawyer about the tire." Through interviews with victims and lawyers, KHOU found 30 deaths that were connected to "tread separation on ATX tires. And most of all, we didn't stop at Texas but for the first time started assembling a national snapshot of similar accidents in states such as New Mexico, California, Florida, Arizona, etc."
Tags: VIDEOCLIP; TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; Firestone tires; tires; car accidents; Firestone ATX; Firestone ATX II
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Asleep at the Wheel: The Government Auto Safety Breakdown
In a series of news and investigative stories the Los Angeles Times "focused on how the deceptions by auto and tire companies coupled with the ineffectiveness of the nation's auto safety regulators..." Some of the major findings included that "State Farm insurance company had notified federal regulators about problems with Firestone tires as far back as 1998, but got no response" and that "Ford Motor C. was aware of instability problems with its Explorer SUV...but twice had declined to make design changes...". Reporters found out that " tires made by Goodyear had been experiencing similar problems to the Firestones and had been linked to several fatal crashes". Some of the stories questioned the companies' practice to keep "knowledge of unsafe products out of public eye". The series raised questions about the efficiency of federal government on safety issues. It pointed out that "the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had been thwarted for over two decades from setting or updating auto safety standards because of industry pressure and lack of funding and political support from Congress."
Tags: Firestone; automobiles; highways; tires. lawsuits; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; accidents; fatalities; Ford; Goodyear; State Farm Insurance; Continental General Tire Inc.; General Motors; Suzuki; Venezuela; Saudi Arabia; FARS; NHTSA