Now, consumer activists say they're hoping that the human toll of shredded radial tires will help it find its bite. Consumer advocates say the case also provides an unexpected opportunity to strengthen the government's capacity to safeguard the public from faulty products. But he cautions that this window of opportunity could close quickly. Until this week's hearings, many activists worried that consumer-protection issues were being buried on Capitol Hill. In June, the House sidelined a 10-year effort to develop an ergonomics standard to protect workers from repetitive stress injuries.
Rollovers are a leading cause of fatalities in popular sport-utility vehicles.
The publicity surrounding the Firestone tire recall is putting the issue of consumer protection squarely back on the political agenda. In questions to witnesses on Wednesday, legislators on both sides of the aisle focused on why it took Firestone, Ford, and the government so long to recognize that there was a problem. Testimony and documents released at the hearing signaled that claims against Firestone for defective tires spiked around 1996. That same year, Ford began replacing Firestone tires in a dozen foreign countries, including Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Neither corporation was required to report these developments to US regulators, and did not.