By Myron Levin and Davan Maharaj Safety features developed decades ago by the tire industry to keep treads from peeling off have not been used in most standard lines of tires, including models implicated in recent fatal accidents. The safety measures cost from pennies to a little more than a dollar per tire, but due partly to cost-cutting pressures from their largest customers, the auto makers, tire companies have been reluctant to use them. The devices are designed to prevent the steel belts in radial tires from separating, which can lead to the treads peeling off.
Manufacturers know the safety wraps are effective, records show.
However, they add cost and weight to tires, and tire makers in most cases have done without them. Safety wraps were absent from the three models of Firestone tires involved in the country's worst tire-related accidents. As yet unverified reports to the government reveal more than 200 deaths in the United States and abroad from crashes triggered by separation failures of the tires. The wrecks have also left scores of survivors with brain damage and other crippling injuries. Firestone is not alone.