Safety Agency Won’t Probe Explorer

Federal safety regulators Tuesday denied a request by tire maker Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. to conduct a safety defect investigation into the Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it made the decision after an extensive analysis of agency data and information provided by Firestone and Ford Motor Co. The data do not support Firestone’s contention that Explorers stand out from other SUVs with respect to its handling characteristics following a tread separation,” NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey Runge said in a statement.

Bridgestone/Firestone submitted the request in May 2001, asking the agency to open an inquiry into the handling and control characteristics of the Explorer after Firestone tires that lost their treads were linked to hundreds of Explorer roll-over accidents. At least 271 people were killed and hundreds more injured. Firestone launched two recalls of 10 million tires in the last 18 months.

Firestone cited a report by an Ohio State University professor that said the Explorer showed a propensity to over-steer, or turn more tightly than drivers intend, after a tire failure.

But NHTSA said the report and other data did not show “that Explorers in general ... are more likely to exhibit linear range oversteer characteristics following a rear tire tread separation than many of their peers.

“Moreover, a vehicle cannot be found to contain a safety-related defect under our statute solely because it has not been designed to preclude” the linear range oversteer.

Sue Cischke, Ford’s vice president of environmental and safety engineering, said NHTSA’s decision “is consistent with real-world performance data showing the Explorer to be among the safest of vehicles, and NHTSA’s previous finding that many Firestone Wilderness AT tires built before 1998 contain a safety defect.”

Bridgestone/Firestone spokeswoman Jill Bratina had no comment other than, “NHTSA has made its determination.”

The agency’s decision comes less than two weeks after a Barstow jury in a rollover injury case ruled the Explorer was defectively designed, the first time a jury determined the SUV had a design defect due to its risk of rolling over.

But the jury also found Ford not responsible for the crash or for the damages, and that the defect did not cause the injuries in that case. The injured family received a total of $14.9 million from a Ford dealer the jury found failed to repair the used Explorer; from Caltrans and a highway contractor.

Nevertheless, the government repeated its warning on SUVs flipping over in accidents. “The Ford Explorer decision aside, NHTSA reminds consumers that SUVs in general have a greater tendency to roll over during a crash than passenger cars,” the agency said. “In 2000, 62% of all SUV fatalities were the result of rollover, compared to 22% for passenger cars.”

NHTSA’s decision not to investigate the Explorer is consistent with what it says is its legal mandate.

According to the agency, it is barred from taking actions that might reduce consumer choice or eliminate whole classes of vehicles. As a result, it says, it can’t declare vehicles defective unless their safety risks are significantly worse than other vehicles in their class.

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Times staff writer Myron Levin in Los Angeles contributed to this report.