The Washington Post, " A Lethal Combination"

         The many factors in the crash that killed 16-year-old Lauren Sausville on Dec. 3 came together in a split second, on a curve that would claim her life.
          Hurrying to catch up to a friend on Colchester Road in Fairfax County that night, police say, her vehicle's excessive speed, the darkness, the beer she'd had, her inexperience as a driver increased the odds of a crash. And then there was the 1999 Ford Explorer she drove, a sport-utility vehicle that her stepmother, Debbie Sausville, called "too much car" for a 5-foot-4 high school junior who weighed barely 100 pounds.
          Missing the curve, Sausville rode up the embankment on the right. At that moment, crash investigators say, an experienced driver might still have maintained control. But Sausville had had her license only three weeks. She swerved, and the SUV flipped onto the driver's side and slid, in a hail of sparks, into her friend's waiting car.
          The friend escaped with minor injuries. Sausville, pushed by her vehicle's crumpling roof into the back seat, died instantly.
          Forty-nine people ages 15 to 20 died in SUV and pickup truck accidents in Maryland, Virginia and the District last year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The problem, researchers say, is that SUVs have a higher center of gravity and are harder to control in an emergency, which makes inexperienced teenage drivers more vulnerable.
          Recent safety improvements to SUVs, a federal study found, are less likely to protect teenage drivers; like Sausville, they often drive older-model SUVs.
         Teen SUV crashes, he said, "go back to driver behavior. That's playing a very big role."

Car and Driver, "Ford Recalls Even More Escape/Tribute SUVs "

          Ford has expanded its just-announced recall of Escape and Mazda Tribute SUVs to nearly 600,000 vehicles, Reuters reported, citing the automaker and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
          Ford originally said it was recalling 474,000 vehicles because an accelerator cable may prevent their engines from returning to idle, increasing stopping distances and potentially resulting in a crash.
          Now, Ford says, the recall will include 474,000 Escapes as well as 121,000 Mazda Tributes from the 2002-2004 model years. Ford owns one-third of Mazda.

The New York Times, "Study Backs Systems to Aid Auto Stability"

          A new study by the insurance industry says that the stability systems available in some cars and trucks can greatly reduce the likelihood of an accident. The technology, which applies brake pressure to help a driver maintain control of the vehicle, was found to reduce the chances of a fatal crash by 34 percent, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
          The technology also reduces, by 56 percent, the risk of a fatal single-vehicle crash in instances like a loss of control at high speed or in inclement weather or when a driver nods off. The group's report is the second major study of electronic stability control in the United States. Last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a study that pointed to similarly significant benefits.
          Vehicles with electronic stability control systems have a computer that collects data from sensors that monitor certain variables, like the rotation of the tires, how hard the driver is turning the steering wheel and brake pressure. The computer gauges if the driver is losing control of the vehicle and, if so, applies brake pressure to individual tires to restore order. In some cases, the computer reduces power from the engine.
          Electronic stability control systems, referred to in the industry as E.S.C., are seen as potentially the most help in sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks, because those vehicles are much more likely than passenger cars to roll over in single-vehicle accidents. Rollovers are particularly deadly and lead to more than 10,000 American deaths a year.

The Los Angeles Times, "Ford Win in Rollover Case Is Reversed"

          A U.S. appeals court reversed a 2003 jury verdict that found Ford Motor Co. wasn't liable for the death of a mother and a daughter in an Explorer rollover accident.
          A federal appeals court in San Francisco last week ordered a new trial for the family of Angela and McKenna Jaramillo, who were killed in August 2000 in an accident involving a Ford Explorer. The court found the trial judge shouldn't have let Ford introduce evidence on other rollover accidents.

Bloomberg News, "Ford settles Florida rollover lawsuit"

          Ford Motor Co. settled a rollover-death case involving its Explorer sport-utility vehicle as a Florida jury considered whether to award $48 million in punitive damages to the victim’s family.
          A Fort Myers, Florida., federal jury awarded the victim’s family $5.3 million in compensatory damages Wednesday and was considering punitive damages when lawyers settled for an undisclosed amount.The family of Bob Miller, who was 57 when he died, filed the suit.
          The family’s lawyer, Richard Denney told jurors the Explorer’s rear tires lose control of their direction because they bounce off of the ground. The bouncing is caused by a soft suspension system on a solid axle, he said. Miller was on his way home from his roofing job and was wearing his seat belt and a hard hat when a tire lost its tread, his lawyers said. He lost control of the Explorer and it flipped over.

The New York Times, "Safety Gap Grows Wider Between S.U.V.'s and Cars"

          The gap in safety between sport utility vehicles and passenger cars last year was the widest yet recorded, according to new federal traffic data. People driving or riding in a sport utility vehicle in 2003 were nearly 11 percent more likely to die in an accident than people in cars, the figures show.
          Over all, crash fatalities declined across the board in 2003 to the lowest levels in six years, the government figures show, with 42,643 people killed in traffic accidents in the United States. Much of the decline appeared to come from fewer people driving drunk and more people buckling up. But the United States has not made as much progress as some other developed nations, because rates of seat belt use remain lower here and because of the growing numbers of SUV's and pickup trucks, which tend to pose greater hazards than cars both to their occupants and to others on the road.
          The main reason for the safety gap in SUV and car fatalities, according to federal regulators, is that SUV's are more likely to roll over, a particularly deadly accident event that is a symptom of their higher ground clearance. "It's largely a function of the rollover problem," said Rae Tyson, a spokesman for the traffic agency. "In certain types of crashes, you're more likely to be better off in an SUV, but that is offset by the fact the you're more likely to roll over."
          The traffic safety agency reported last week that there were 16.42 deaths of SUV occupants in accidents last year for every 100,000 registered SUV's. The figure for passenger cars was 14.85 deaths for each 100,000 registered; pickups were slightly higher than cars at 15.17 deaths per 100,000, while vans were lowest at 11.2 occupant deaths for every 100,000 registered.

Detroit News, "Feds link injuries to weak roofs; Auto industry will challenge new drive to toughen regulations"

          A new federal study that could have major implications in the growing debate over vehicle roof strength found a strong link between fatalities and injuries, and the severity of crushed roofs in rollover accidents. Automakers have contended for years that there’s no solid evidence of a correlation between roof strength and the likelihood of injury and death in rollover accidents.
          The new findings, however, could provide crucial supporting evidence for federal officials seeking to strengthen a 33-year-old roof strength standard that many safety advocates say is far too weak to protect U.S. motorists, particularly as rollover-prone SUVs and pickups proliferate. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which published the study this month, said it plans to propose tougher roof strength requirements by year’s end. The conclusions support earlier NHTSA research that found a link between crushed roofs and deaths.
          Rollover crashes are one of the leading causes of death on U.S. highways. In newly released data, NHTSA said 10,376 Americans died in rollover crashes in 2003 — about one-third of all passenger-vehicle highway deaths. And each year, an estimated 7,000 people are killed or severely injured in rollovers in which the roof crushed, according to federal statistics.

Long Beach Press Telegram, "3 killed in SUV rollover on I-210"

          A sport utility vehicle rolled over on a freeway Thursday, killing three people and injuring four others, including a boy who was hurled onto adjacent commuter rail tracks where a train severed one of his legs, authorities said. The boy, whose age was estimated at 5 to 10 years old, was in critical condition while another person was hospitalized in cardiac arrest and two others had major head injuries and broken bones, said Lisa Derdarian of the Pasadena Fire Department.
          The accident occurred about 10:10 a.m. on the Foothill (210) Freeway. The Metro Gold Line light rail track runs down the median, separated from the east-and westbound lanes of the freeway by fences. Two people died at the scene and a third was pronounced dead at a hospital, Derdarian said.

The Wall Street Journal, "Safety Data Give SUVs Poor Grade In Rollover Tests"

          More than a third of the most popular 2004-model sport-utility vehicles show a tendency to roll over, federal car-safety regulators said yesterday, giving auto makers another dent in their SUV lines.
          Of the 36 SUVs tested on a track for their inclination to roll over, 13 tipped up on two wheels -- the first step in a rollover. The tests were performed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has been criticized for issuing potentially confusing test results on SUVs earlier this year because so many vehicles were getting the same scores. Yesterday's results were the federal agency's attempt to offer clearer comparisons.
          Two extremes: In federal safety tests, the Chrysler Pacifica 4X4 (top) was least likely to roll over, while the Ford Explorer Sport Trac 4X2 (bottom) was most likely. Earlier this year, the NHTSA estimated that 4,451 people died last year in SUV accidents, an 11% increase from 2002. Rollovers occurred in about 61% of those fatal accidents. Tomorrow, the agency is expected to announce final traffic-fatality figures for 2003 that are significantly lower than the previous estimate of 43,220 and lower than the total of 42,815 deaths reported in 2002. A larger-than-expected drop in the number of alcohol-related fatalities is expected to be cited as one reason for the lower numbers.
          The NHTSA's new test has already had an effect on one auto maker. Last week, General Motors Co. recalled 250,000 Saturn Vues, after the SUV's left rear suspension system failed during NHTSA's new rollover test. The auto maker hasn't yet said how much that recall will cost.

Associated Press, "Government releases new rating system for vehicle rollovers"

          The government's traffic safety agency is expanding its rollover rating system for cars and trucks. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's old rollover ratings were based on height and width as well as a test that includes a sharp turn at up to 80 kph (50 mph) Five stars are given to vehicles that roll over 10 percent of the time or less, and one star to vehicles that roll over between 40 and 50 percent of the time.
          The new system retains the star rating but also lets consumers compare a particular vehicle's grade to the ratings of similar vehicles. The system also shows consumers the percentage chance the vehicle would roll over in a crash similar to NHTSA's test.
          NHTSA gave Ford's front-wheel drive Explorer Sport Trac the worst rollover rating of any SUV and said its chance of rollover was 34.8 percent.So far, the system only rates vehicles from the 2004 model year.
          Rollovers represent only 3 percent of all crashes, but they are especially severe. They are responsible for one-third of the 43,200 deaths on U.S. highways each year, said NHTSA Administrator Dr. Jeffrey Runge.

Associated Press, "Lawmaker calls for stronger guardrails on highways"

          A lawmaker called for stronger guardrails along Florida's highways Monday after a church bus plunged into a canal and killed three children.State Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, said highways should be lined by barriers similar to those used to keep airplanes on aircraft carriers.
          He said such a guardrail would have prevented Saturday's accident, when a church bus returning from a field trip in Orlando ran into a canal after being bumped by a sport-utility vehicle. The three children killed in the crash were Daniel Lynn, 14, Andrew Cook, 14, and Brandon Miller, 11.
          Florida Highway Patrol authorities said the Ford Explorer SUV lost control because of a rear tire mishap, which they were investigating. Lt. Pat Santangelo said the tire was bought used and might not have been strong enough to support the SUV's weight. But authorities also are considering other factors, such as whether roadway debris caused a flat tire and whether it was inflated properly.
          There was no highway guard rail in the spot where the bus, which held a driver and 24 children, plummeted into the canal. The rail ended about 100 yards from where the vehicle entered 20 feet of water.

CNN/Money, "SUVs ranked for rollover safety"

         The 2-wheel drive Ford Explorer SportTrac was the lowest-rated SUV, with a 35 percent chance of rolling over in a single-vehicle crash. Previously, NHTSA had used a five-star rating system to measure an SUV's tendency to roll over in a crash. The system covered all types of vehicles, not just SUVs, and SUVs overwhelmingly tended to have three-star ratings. Of the 28 SUV that had been rated before today, 20 had three star ratings and just one, the 2-wheel SportTrac, had a two-star rating. Seven had four star ratings.
         SUVs overwhelmingly tended to have three-star ratings. Of the 28 SUVs that had been rated before today, 20 had three-star ratings and just one, the 2-wheel drive Ford Explorer SportTrac, had a two-star rating. A four-star rating means that an SUV has a 10 to 20 percent chance of rolling over in a single-vehicle crash. Three- and two-star ratings correlate to 20-to-30 and 30-to-40 percent odds of a rollover, respectively.

Detroit Free Press, "U.S. regulators to gauge rollover risk; Vehicles to be ranked good to bad"

          U.S. safety regulators will begin predicting the probability that a vehicle will roll over, cause of more than half the fatalities for sport-utility vehicles.
          The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, responsible for issuing rollover ratings since 2000, will assign scores to supplement results based on test track performance and a mathematical formula, spokesman Rae Tyson said. The agency starting Monday will rank from best to worst cars, SUVs, minivans or pickups, he said.
          Rollovers accounted for 55 percent of U.S. fatal accidents by sport-utility vehicles last year. SUV deaths rose 11 percent last year from 2002, to 3,995. Total U.S. highway deaths rose by 395 to a 12-year record of 43,220, the agency said in April.
          General Motors Corp. Thursday recalled more than 245,000 Saturn Vue SUVs from the 2002 through 2004 model year after the suspension collapsed during the track test, a 45-miles-per-hour "fishhook" turning maneuver. Congress ordered rollover testing in 2000 after at least 271 highway deaths in such accidents, most involving Ford Motor Co. Explorer sport-utility vehicles.
          The agency will retain ratings that give vehicles a top grade of five stars, Tyson said. The U.S. calculates the rating using a mathematical formula based on a vehicle's height and its axle width and results from the fishhook test. The agency is considering an additional a track test to measure rollover likelihood, Tyson said.

Los Angeles Times, "Don't get burned by your tires this summer; Wear and improper inflation can lead to dangerous blowouts, especially when it's hot"

          Everything is ready for your end-of-summer family vacation. Or is it? There's one item that is easy to forget but could have some terrible consequences if neglected.
          Tire pressure. Driving on bald or under-inflated tires on hot summer days can lead to disaster, auto safety and tire experts warn. Underinflated tires fail because they overheat, which leads to the breakdown of the tire's internal structure.
          Improper inflation also can reduce your ability to control your vehicle. Dangerous tire blowouts occur more during summer months than at any other time of the year, safety advocates say. If you are traveling in an SUV or pickup truck, the risk can be even greater.

The Kansas City Star, "When Thomas was injured at heart of case; Witness blames SUV roof's collapse"

          Amid clashing theories involving complex math, a pair of shoes became key evidence Monday in the Derrick Thomas wrongful-death case. Shoes likely to be those of Thomas were found on the grassy median of Interstate 435 -- midway between his crumpled sport-utility vehicle and where Thomas came to rest, shoeless, on the other lanes of the highway.
          An expert witness called by lawyers for Thomas' mother and seven children testified that the shoes could not have landed there if Thomas ejected from his SUV the way General Motors Corp. experts suggest. Other testimony included a videotape of Chiefs President and General Manager Carl Peterson. Just weeks before the accident, Peterson said, he offered Thomas a five-year contract for more than $22 million.
          The Thomas family contends that GM is at fault for the Jan. 23, 2000, rollover accident that paralyzed and later caused the death of the Chiefs' star. They contend that Thomas was injured when the roof of his Chevy Suburban crushed about midway through three rollovers, and not when Thomas was ejected through the driver's side window. The defense contends Thomas drove too fast, did not wear a seat belt and was injured when thrown from the SUV before the roof buckled.

Philippine Daily Inquirer, "A Roof-Crush Lawsuit"

          DESPITE multimillion-dollar lawsuits arising from rollover accidents involving sport utility vehicles in the United States, SUVs and pickup trucks continue to outsell passenger cars. A series of lawsuits have charged General Motors, Ford and other auto manufacturers with failing to protect occupants in rollovers of SUVs and pickups.
          The Detroit News cited federal statistics showing that an estimated 7,000 people are killed or seriously injured each year in rollovers in which the roof was crushed.
          The controversy over vehicle roof standards intensified when the media focused national attention on the sensational case of Derrick Thomas, a 33-year-old football star of the Kansas City Chiefs who died of cardio-respiratory arrest 16 days after being paralyzed from the chest down in a rollover accident in his 1999 Chevrolet Suburban. Eight months after Thomas' death, his mother filed a wrongful-death case versus GM and the Chevy dealership that sold him his Suburban. Thomas' mother alleged that the design of the Suburban's roof was defective and too weak to keep it from crushing down at least eight inches onto Thomas' head and causing severe injuries before he was ejected from the vehicle.
          Meanwhile in Washington, Congress and auto safety groups are urging the NHTSA to overhaul federal roof-strength standards that have not been updated since 1971, the Detroit News noted. One automaker that has taken the initiative to anticipate a new roof-strength law is Volvo, a company owned by Ford. The roof of Volvo's XC90 SUV is reinforced with boron, which is four times stronger than normal steel. In rollover tests, the XC90's reinforced roof was squashed but did not collapse, thereby limiting intrusion into the passenger space and keeping the cabin intact.

The New York Times, "Suspension Failure on Saturn SUV's in Rollover Tests Prompts Inquiry"

          The suspensions on two Saturn Vue sport utility vehicles broke during rollover tests performed by the government last month, causing the left rear wheels of the vehicles to collapse. The suspension failures occurred in separate tests of the two- and four-wheel-drive versions of the Vue, which is made by General Motors.
          The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating why the failures occurred, according to a brief summary of the investigation posted late last week on the agency's Web site. The process often takes more than a year and must be completed before the agency orders a recall, if it so chooses.
          In interviews yesterday, consumer advocates called on G.M. to voluntarily recall the vehicles and said that the test results suggested a flaw in their design. "I can't think of a government test in recent memory that resulted in such a catastrophic failure," said Clarence Ditlow, director of the Center for Auto Safety, a consumer advocacy group.
          More than 200,000 Saturn Vues have been sold in the United States since the models went on sale in 2001, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank. "They should immediately fix this," said Joan Claybrook, the president of Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group that has backed a Senate proposal to create minimum rollover performance standards for all cars and trucks.

Los Angeles Times, "Saturn Vue SUV Fails in Rollover Tests"

          General Motors Corp. faces a U.S. safety probe and a potential recall of 227,303 Saturn Vue sport utility vehicles because the rear suspension collapsed during federal rollover tests. The review covers 2002 through 2004 models, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.
          The suspension failure in both four- and two-wheel-drive 2004 Vues was the first in rollover driving tests added this year. The left rear wheel collapsed under the vehicle, NHTSA said. A GM spokesman said he was unaware of any problems with the Vue suspension and that the automaker was cooperating with the agency.

The Washington Post, "27 Fires Linked To Oil Changes In Honda CR-V"

          At least 27 Honda CR-V sport-utility vehicles from the 2003 and 2004 model years burst into flames shortly after getting their first oil changes, according to records provided to the federal government by the manufacturer. While no injuries were reported, many of the vehicles were destroyed, usually with 10,000 miles or fewer on their odometers.
          The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration investigated the situation and concluded 1 that the cases were the fault of dealerships or others who improperly installed oil filters. The agency agreed with American Honda Motor Co. that oil from the filters most likely leaked onto the vehicles' hot exhaust systems, quickly igniting,
          But auto safety advocates say they're dismayed that the agency didn't take a stronger stand. "Relatively new cars catching on fire? Running the risk of injuring their occupants? It's a very unusual and a very dangerous situation," said Sally Greenberg of Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports. The fact that a routine oil change could have such catastrophic results suggests "a dire and a dangerous situation that both the automaker and the auto safety agency should have looked much more closely at," she said.
          Honda, whose products are consistently rated among the safest vehicles, doesn't know why the fires are happening in only the two most recent CR-V models, spokesman Andy Boyd said. Honda has no plan to recall the vehicles and install a barrier to block the oil from hitting the hot exhaust manifold, he said. About 140,000 CR-Vs were sold in the United States in 2003. Honda said 22 of them caught fire from the apparent oil filter problem. So far this year, five owners of 2004 CR-Vs have reported such fires to NHTSA.

Associated Press, "DaimlerChrysler AG Recalling More Than 20,000 Vehicles for Safety Defects"

          DaimlerChrysler AG is recalling at least 20,000 vehicles because of safety defects, the company said Friday. The recall affects 2005 models of the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum and 2004 models of the Chrysler Sebring and Jeep Liberty.
          Chrysler Group spokesman Max Gates said the company wants to inspect and possibly repair the battery cable connections on 20,060 vehicles, tighten safety belt attachments on 12,211 vehicles and inspect and possibly repair the child seat anchor systems on 12 vehicles. Gates said some of the models may have one or more defects and some may have none at all. The company is still determining which vehicles are affected, he said.

The Wall Street Journal, "Rollover Scores Downplay Road Test"

          The government's much-touted new rollover test is facing mounting criticism.
          In data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration so far this year, eight of the nine vehicles that tipped up onto two wheels -- a sure sign of unsteadiness and an event that precedes a rollover -- scored a passing grade. Five of the nine actually improved their overall score from previous years.
          The Toyota Tacoma Extended Cab 4x2 pickup tipped up on the test and still received a four-star rating, the same as most low-to-the-ground passenger cars. Four stars means the vehicle has a 10% to 20% chance of rolling over in a crash involving just one vehicle.
          "The result defies common sense and it gives a misleading impression to the consumer," says R. David Pittle, senior vice president for technical policy at Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports.
          Joan Claybrook, the former head of NHTSA who now runs consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, says the ratings need to be re-evaluated.

CNN Money, "Behind the rollover ratings: NHTSA's SUV rating system doesn't say much. We dug deeper to help you find where they really rank"

          If you're shopping for a new sport utility vehicle and you want to buy one that's less likely to roll over in a crash, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's five-star rollover resistance ratings can be helpful.
          Unfortunately, they can also be very confusing.
          NHTSA's five-star rollover resistance rating system has, for practical purposes, become a two-star system. Of the 28 SUVs rated so far, all but one have either three or four stars, and 20 of those are in the three-star category.
          Five stars means a vehicle has less than a 10 percent chance of rolling over in a single-vehicle crash. No SUV rated so far has attained such a rating.
          Since all SUVs fall into such a narrow range, does that mean they're all about the same? Not really. But it would be helpful to have more information about data behind the ratings and how they are calculated.
          Unfortunately, the underlying data that NHTSA uses to assign rollover star ratings -- which could help you make a more informed judgment -- is difficult to find if you don't know just where to look. And there's no way, using NHTSA's SaferCar.gov site, to easily compare one SUV's stability factors to another's.
          Rollover wrecks accounted for 3 percent of crashes in 2002, but 33 percent of fatalities, according to NHTSA.

The Detroit News, "Ford lawyer makes Explorer apology"

          Plaintiffs’ lawyers and legal experts are abuzz over closing arguments by a Ford lawyer during the punitive stage of the trial. The statements seemed to fly in the face of Ford’s fierce defense of the best-selling SUV’s safety to Congress, federal regulators and in nationwide TV commercials.
          “It’s impossible not to be angry at Ford Motor Company for what decisions that in marketing and selling this Ford Explorer it knowingly put a defective product out on the market and caused the family tragedy that you see before you now,” Ford lawyer Anthony Sonnett told a jury that had already awarded $122.6 million in compensatory damages to a woman who was paralyzed in a rollover crash. Ford contends Sonnett was not representing the automaker’s opinion.
          But Sonnett went on to tell jurors: “We are sorry that we let you down. The engineers are sorry that they let the rest of the company down. There is nothing else I can really say to you at this point. I understand a feeling that perhaps it’s too little too late, or it rings hollow, or (Ford Chairman and CEO) William C. Ford (Jr.) is not here to say it himself. But I wouldn’t feel right if I ended this without saying that indeed we are sorry.”
          After Sonnett’s closing, the jurors socked Ford with an additional $246 million in punitive damages, concluding Ford had acted with fraud or malice in its design and marketing of the Explorer. Punitive damages are assessed as a penalty against defendants. Compensatory damages are awarded to victims and paid by defendants. The verdict in the Buell-Wilson case came after a two-month trial, where jurors were able to weigh an unusually complete record of evidence.
          Benetta Buell-Wilson was injured in a wreck involving her 1997 Explorer. Her lawyer contended that the Explorer’s design made it prone to rollovers and roof collapse. Prior to the verdict, Ford had successfully defended the Explorer’s design in 13 consecutive product liability trials.
          The Explorer has been and remains the focus of legal action in hundreds of cases since a pattern emerged in 2000. The SUV was linked to at least 271 rollover deaths. Ford has settled dozens, if not hundreds, of Explorer lawsuits. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigated the accident data, but blamed the problem on defective Firestone tires. While Ford noted seat belt misuse contributed to most of the deaths, NHTSA found no cause to investigate the Explorer’s design, which was overhauled for the 2002 model year.

Associated Press, "Two die in pickup-trailer rollover"

          A pickup carrying four members of a family and hauling a loaded horse trailer went out of control and rolled on Interstate 80, killing the two parents and injuring their two children.
          Killed in the wreck 30 miles east of Rock Springs, Wyoming were Kimberly Perryman, 37, and Harold Perryman, 38, both of Weston, Idaho, according to the state Highway Patrol.
          The patrol said the Ford F-250 pickup, driven by Kimberly Perryman, was pulling a horse trailer loaded with five horses and eastbound when it drifted onto the right shoulder. The driver overcorrected to the left, causing the driver to lose control, the patrol said. Kimberly and Harold Perryman were both ejected during the ensuing rollover.

The Daily News of Los Angeles, "Tire Failure Leads to Two Fatal Crashes"

          Three people from Tehachapi and Rosamond died in two separate weekend crashes on Highway 58 after tread came off tires on the vehicles in which they were riding, officials said Monday.
          Tehachapi residents John Paul Verstraeten, 24, and Jessica Cristanelli, 20, were fatally injured Saturday afternoon just east of Bakersfield, California when their westbound sport utility vehicle overturned on Highway 58 after the tread came off the right front tire, California Highway Patrol officials said.
          Rosamond resident Jesus Oropeza, 54, died about 4 1/2 hours later on Highway 58 seven miles east when his westbound pickup truck overturned after the tread came off the left rear tire, CHP officials said.
          Verstraeten was driving a 1991 Ford Explorer "substantially" faster than the highway's 65 mph speed when the crash occurred about 1:15 p.m. Saturday east of Edison Road, Williams said. When the tread came off, the vehicle swerved into the center divider, then veered right and flipped several times, the CHP report said.
          Cristanelli was not wearing a seat belt and was thrown from the vehicle's rear seat, the report said. Verstraeten was wearing a seat belt but was fatally injured when the Explorer's roof collapsed. About 5:50 p.m. Saturday, Oropeza was driving a 1992 Ford F250 pickup truck west on Highway 58 near General Beale Road when the left rear tire tread separated, a CHP report said. The truck ran off the highway and overturned. Oropeza was killed despite wearing a seat belt.

The New York Times, "Some Popular SUV's Fare Badly in Rollover Tests"

          The rear-wheel-drive version of the Ford Explorer, the nation's best-selling sport utility vehicle, tipped up on two wheels during a rollover test performed by the government, according to results released Monday. The news comes less than a week after a woman paralyzed in an Explorer rollover accident won a $369 million judgment against the Ford Motor Company.
          The government said three other popular S.U.V.'s tipped during tests: the Chevrolet Tahoe and the GMC Yukon, both by General Motors, as well as the rear-wheel-drive version of the Mercury Mountaineer, also made by Ford. The extended cab version of a pickup truck made by Toyota, the Tacoma, also tipped up on two wheels.
          The results underscore that sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks are not as safe as many consumers believe because they ride higher from the ground than passenger cars do. And the problem shows no sign of going away. While the Explorer involved in the lawsuit was a 1997 model, the version tested by the government was an extensively redesigned 2004 model.
          Earlier this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started its first rollover tests on a track. Previously, the agency used a mathematical calculation, factoring in a vehicle's specifications, to gauge rollover risk. But Congress, in 2000, ordered regulators to develop track tests after nearly 300 rollover deaths in Explorers equipped with Firestone tires in the late 1990's.
          None of the passenger cars received less than four of five stars in the government ratings, indicating a 10 to 20 percent chance of a rollover during a single-vehicle crash. On the positive side for Ford, the RX-8 from the company's Mazda affiliate was the only one of 27 vehicles tested to receive the government's highest rollover rating of five stars, indicating a less than 10 percent rollover risk. By contrast, at least one version of four of the six S.U.V.'s tested tipped up on two wheels; both versions of the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon did so. Consumer groups have been sharply critical of the government's new testing because it has inflated grades for some vehicles; even the Tacoma that tipped up on two wheels received four of five stars on the test, a finding that baffled some experts.

Reuters, "Ford likely to hit speed bump with rollover suit"

          The $369 million in damages slapped on Ford Motor in an Explorer rollover case last week may expose it to more legal setbacks and highlight the automaker's inability to put one of the worst crises in its 100-year history behind it, experts said.
          The award by a California jury are among the largest ever in a single lawsuit against Ford and mark its first loss after 11 victories in rollover cases focusing on the safety of America's best-selling sport utility vehicle. Ford will however stand by its strategy following the verdict said spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes.
           Additionally, Ford is facing a class-action lawsuit over faulty Firestone tires installed mostly as original equipment on Explorers. Plaintiffs have amended the complaint to allege vehicle stability claims in addition to tire defects. Over 270 highway deaths were reported from the separation of the vehicle's tire treads. In its financial reports, Ford does not estimate how much all these lawsuits will specifically cost the company, however.
           In 2001, in one of the biggest recalls in US history, former Ford chief executive Jacques Nasser announced that the automaker was spending $3 billion to replace all 13 million Firestone tires on Explorers at the time. Since the Firestone tire debacle, Ford has made some design changes to the Explorer, with later models wider at the base and featuring a lower centre of gravity.

Daily Journal, "Rollover Case Yields Punitives Of $246 Million"

          A San Diego, California jury added $246 million in punitive damages to the $122 million the panel had awarded in compensatory damages to a woman paralyzed by a rollover accident in her Ford Explorer. The plaintiff's lawyers in the case said the verdict against Ford Motor Co. was the first in which a jury decided that poor design of the Explorer caused injuries in rollover crashes. The combined monetary award totaling $368 million is the second-largest verdict against an automaker.
          Speaking from her wheelchair, plaintiff Benetta Buell-Wilson said after the verdict that she would waive $100 million of the punitive damages if Ford would agree within 72 hours to recall the millions of Explorers sold from 1990 through 2001. Buell-Wilson said Ford should fix instability and roof-weakness flaws. "Please recall these unsafe cars," she said. Besides being likely to overturn during avoidance maneuvers, she said, the roof "crumples just like paper."
          A legal-news spokeswoman for Ford said the company would reject Buell-Wilson's offer. Buell-Wilson, 49, was injured Jan. 19, 2002, on Interstate 8 in El Cajon when she tried to steer her Explorer around a metal part that had fallen from a vehicle in front of her. The Explorer overturned, crushing her. She sued, alleging that because of design flaws the SUV is unstable and its roof is weak.
          One of the jurors said that, based on the testimony and internal Ford documents, the automaker "without a doubt" had been "lying to the public" about the safety of Explorer sport utility vehicles.

AFP, "Jury award in Ford Explorer rollover crash tops 350 million dollars"

          A San Diego, California jury ordered Ford Motor Company to pay a woman paralyzed in a Ford Explorer SUV crash 246 million dollars in punitive damages after handing the automaker its first courtroom defeat involving its flagship sport utility vehicle.
          It marked Ford's first loss in nearly a dozen cases involving SUV accidents that have gone to trial challenging the safety of the nation's best-selling SUV. The company said it would appeal.
          Benetta Buell-Wilson, a mother of two, swerved to avoid an object on the road and her 1997 Explorer flipped over, according to testimony. The vehicle's roof caved in, breaking the woman's spinal column.
          Plaintiff's lawyers charged that that Ford ignored the advice of engineers and designed the Explorer with safety flaws that make the vehicle prone to roll over.

Free Press News Services, "Jury orders Ford to pay $122 million"

          A San Diego, California jury ordered Ford Motor Co. to pay at least $122 million to a woman paralyzed in an SUV rollover accident, the first setback in a string of lawsuits involving the Ford Explorer, the nation's best-selling sport-utility vehicle. The final award could be much higher. The award issued late Tuesday covered only compensatory damages. The jury began deliberations Wednesday on punitive damages. Ford said it will appeal.
          The trial involved a January 2002 accident east of San Diego. Driver Benetta Buell-Wilson swerved to avoid a metal object and lost control of her 1997 Explorer, which rolled 4 1/2 times. Buell-Wilson, a 49-year-old mother of two, was permanently paralyzed from the waist down when the roof collapsed on her neck. "I'm lucky because I'm short," she said. "If I'd been any taller, I probably would have been a quadriplegic or brain-damaged. Or dead."
          In a statement, Ford insisted the Explorer was safe and blamed Buell-Wilson.
          Buell-Wilson's attorney contended Ford sacrificed passenger safety for profits. The lawsuit involved design issues found on all Explorers made through 2001. Plaintiff's attorney said Ford declined to follow its engineers' suggestions to widen the Explorer's wheel track or to lower its center of gravity, costly changes that would make the vehicle more stable. Concern about costs also kept Ford from sufficiently reinforcing the Explorer's roof to protect passengers.
          The reputation of the Explorer was hurt by a U.S. investigation into at least 271 highway deaths involving tread separation by Bridgestone Corp.'s Firestone tires, mostly on Explorers. Ford settled hundreds of lawsuits over rollovers related to tire failures. None of the lawsuits against Ford involving tread separations went to jury verdicts. Ford has been sued several hundred times over Explorer rollovers in cases that don't involve tire failures. Ford has settled many of these cases.

The San Francisco Chronicle, "Porsche, Volkswagen recall thousands of SUVs over potential rear seat belt fault"

          Porsche is recalling more than 40,000 Cayenne sport utility vehicles worldwide and rival Volkswagen recalled some 60,000 of its Touareg SUVs to check for potential faults in rear seat belts. About 1,000 of the faulty parts were installed in the Cayenne and Touareg vehicles, Volkswagen spokesman Alexander Skibbe said Tuesday. Porsche said its recall affects Cayenne, Cayenne S and Cayenne Turbo models manufactured between Oct. 1, 2002 and Dec. 17, 2003 -- a total of 40,848 vehicles. The worldwide Volkswagen recall affects all Touareg models made in the same period.

Broward Daily Business Review, Litigation Review

          The estate of a 34-year-old man who was ejected and killed when the SUV he was riding in rolled over, settled its product liability suit for an undisclosed amount.
           Scott Bowden was a passenger in a 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe that was traveling along Florida's Turnpike in Osceola County when the tires separated, causing it to roll over and eject Bowden, who died of blunt-force trauma to the head.
          His estate alleged that the Tahoe's door latch gave way due to defective design; that the BF Goodrich Long Trail tires that separated were not properly tested by Michelin, which manufactured them; and that Rahal Chevrolet-Buick Inc., which sold and inspected the vehicle, negligently inspected the tires 30 days earlier.

The New York Times, "Few SUVs Win Highest U.S. Safety Ratings"

          General Motors' sport utility vehicles generally have poor ratings in the government's frontal crash tests but perform well in side-impact crashes, according to results released Wednesday.The 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer, Buick Rainier, GMC Envoy, GMC Envoy XUV and Oldsmobile Bravada each earned three out of five stars in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's frontal crash tests. But they earned five stars on the side-impact tests. Three stars means there is a 21 percent to 35 percent chance of serious injury in a similar real-world crash. NHTSA conducts the front-impact test at 35 mph and the side-impact test at 38.5 mph.
          The Saturn Vue, Toyota Highlander and Infiniti FX were the only SUVs of the 13 tested to receive five stars in both the front- and side-impact tests.The Dodge Durango received five stars on the frontal crash test but it wasn't put through a side-impact test.
          The results indicate that side air bags make a bigger difference in passenger cars, which are at risk of being hit by taller and larger vehicles. Crash test results reported last month by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety showed cars with side air bags protected passengers better than those without.
          NHTSA plans to update its standards for side-impact protection this month. NHTSA Administrator Dr. Jeffrey Runge said last week that the new standards will consider for the first time how well an occupant's head is protected. He said 1,000 lives per year could be saved once automakers make the design changes necessary to meet the new standards.

The Detroit News, "Ford dismissed call to fix latch; Automaker Shuns Its Own Engineers' Report to Recall 4.1 Million Trucks, Suvs"

          Ford Motor Co. overruled its own safety engineers' recommendation to recall up to 4.1 million pickups and sport utility vehicles that were found to have substandard door latches, according to internal company documents that have surfaced in recent court cases. A Ford safety engineering team determined in March 2000 that door latches on certain 1997-2000 model light trucks including popular F-150, F-250, Expedition and Lincoln Navigator models didn't meet federal safety standards, the documents show.
          Ford ordered immediate design changes for future vehicles. But the automaker decided against a recall which could have cost up to $527 million after the company determined the latches could pass a rarely used alternative compliance test. The decision could haunt Ford, which now faces a slew of product liability lawsuits stemming from fatal accidents where vehicle doors flew open and plaintiffs' lawyers are blaming latch failure.
          Federal safety officials, meanwhile, are reviewing allegations that Ford skirted federal laws by failing to recall the 4.1 million vehicles and alert the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the latch issue. Ford maintains the door latches are safe and in compliance with federal laws.

The Wall Street Journal, "U.S. May Set Criteria For Seat Belts in Rollovers"

          The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is looking at establishing a performance requirement for seat belts in rollover crashes. Currently there are none.
          Mr. Tyson's comments came in response to a new report from Public Citizen charging that seat belts aren't adequately protecting people in rollovers. Some 2,000 belted occupants are dying in rollover crashes a year, with about half of them partially ejected from the vehicle, the report says. The primary benefit of a seat belt in rollovers is to prevent ejection. The report blames poorly designed and performing seat belts.
          The Public Citizen report comes as it and other consumer-safety groups are trying to keep pressure on Congress to enact new auto-safety measures as part of the massive highway bill. The Senate version of the bill included numerous safety provisions, such as new standards for roof-crush and seat-belt performance in rollovers. Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen and a former NHTSA administrator, said rollovers should be highly survivable crashes, because the force is spread out over several seconds, compared with the quick smash in, say, a frontal collision. But because of antiquated roof-crush standards and poorly designed seat belts, they have become a particularly lethal type of crash. Rollovers account for 3% of accidents, but one-third of occupant fatalities.

The Wall Street Journal, "Study Finds Midsize Cars Are Unsafe if Broadsided by SUVs"

          An influential car-safety study released last night shows that passengers in 10 of 13 midsize cars would be seriously injured if broadsided by a sport-utility vehicle. The study, conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, may well alarm consumers: These midsize cars are among the most widely used, and the institute's safety rankings hold significant sway among car buyers.
          For the auto industry, the timing of the study couldn't be worse as it is likely to embolden efforts by federal regulators to introduce sweeping new safety standards aimed at decreasing the number of fatalities in side-impact crashes involving SUVs and cars. Only Toyota Motor Co.'s Camry and Honda Motor Co.'s Accord, both with optional side air bags, passed the institute's new side-impact crash test with a "good" rating. An air-bag-equipped Chevrolet Malibu mustered an "acceptable" score. None of the three cars passed when tested without side air bags. Seven other cars also essentially flunked the test, which is more rigorous than the current government side-impact test.
          "What it shows is that the mismatch between trucks and SUVs and cars causes severe injuries. We've seen that from the statistics, and now we have a documented new crash test," said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, a consumer-advocacy group.

The Detroit News, "Thousands killed, hurt as auto roofs collapse"

          Penny Shipler remembers the Chevrolet Blazer rolling over and over, then the sound of the roof crashing down over her head. When it finally stopped, she tried to move. "I was thinking get out, I had to get out," she said. "I thought I was getting out." But the Nebraska woman was paralyzed, her spinal cord crushed on impact with the metal roof that caved in around her.
          It's the hidden risk in any rollover accident, whether the roof stays intact or collapses with catastrophic results. Each year, an estimated 7,000 people are killed or severely injured in rollovers in which the roof crushed, according to federal statistics. Yet Detroit's Big Three automakers, armed with political muscle and reams of research, have fought costly upgrades to a 33-year-old roof-strength standard, even while their own European operations build and test stronger roofs.
          General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. essentially drafted the regulation as it stands. In 1971, the automakers led an industrywide effort to convince federal officials to adopt a minimum standard for roof strength -- but only after their vehicle fleets failed the government's first proposed test, according to internal corporate documents examined by The Detroit News.
          The industry wanted "something that will allow our vehicles to pass," Peter Bertelson, who headed Ford's crash-test programs in the late 1960s, told The News. Critics say the industry-backed test, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 216, is too weak to save lives, particularly as rollover-prone SUVs and pickups proliferate. Now the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, under pressure from safety advocates and Congress, says it’s finally time to fix rule 216 and plans to propose a tougher standard later this year.
          Juries in Texas, California and Nebraska have repeatedly rejected Big Three-backed studies that deny a link between crushed roofs and injuries. With huge judgments coming in, including a $225 million verdict against Ford in a roof crush case, safety groups have stepped up their campaign for a new roof-strength standard. "We think the auto manufacturers' basic claim is not true," said Gerald Donaldson, director of the consumer group Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. "Roof strength is absolutely critical."

Associated Press, "New rollover test puts Ford SUV at bottom of list"

          The Ford Explorer Sport Trac got the worst rating among 14 vehicles subjected to a new government safety test designed to predict the likelihood of a rollover during a sharp turn. The federal auto-safety agency, which announced the ratings Wednesday, uses a system in which five stars is the best score and means the likelihood of rollover is less than 10 percent.
          The Sport Trac 4x2, a sport utility vehicle with rear-wheel drive, earned two stars, meaning the rollover risk in a one-vehicle accident is 30 percent to 40 percent.
Ford spokeswoman Kristen Kinley said the test uses an extreme maneuver that does not necessarily reflect real-world driving.
          The government had predicted rollover risk by using a mathematical formula based on a vehicle's height and the distance between its rear wheels. A driving test added last fall measures a vehicle's performance when it swerves sharply to the left and then to the right. The agency uses both tests to rate vehicles.
          Those earning four stars were the Volvo XC90 and Chevrolet Trailblazer 4x4 SUVs; the Ford Focus and Subaru Outback station wagons; the Chevrolet Silverado 4x4 and 4x2 pickups; and the Toyota Echo compact. Four stars means the likelihood of rolling over in a one-vehicle accident is 10 percent to 20 percent.
          Vehicles earning three stars were the Chevrolet Trailblazer 4x2, the Jeep Liberty and Toyota 4Runner SUVs and the Toyota Tacoma 4x4 pickup. The rating means the likelihood of a rollover is 20 percent to 30 percent.
          The government tested 14 vehicles but posted 22 ratings because some vehicles have "twin" models. For example, the GMC Envoy, Oldsmobile Bravada and Buick Rainier are essentially the same as the Chevrolet Trailblazer.
          Joan Claybrook, a former administrator for the auto-safety agency who now heads the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said the new test mimics a real emergency maneuver. But she also urged the government to set a minimum standard for rollover propensity. "Vehicles that get one or two stars shouldn't be sold," she said.
          Agency spokesman Rae Tyson said that crash-test ratings have led to safety improvements and that the agency believes rollover ratings will have the same effect.
"Market forces can have a strong influence on manufacturers. We'll put the ratings out there and let consumers make decisions based on that," he said.

          For the first time, some truck-based sport utility vehicles received as many as four out of five stars in rollover ratings, according to 2004 model ratings released yesterday by federal regulators. But the higher ratings may not necessarily mean the vehicles have become safer, because the government has changed the way it tests them.
In the new tests, using real vehicles on a test track as well as mathematical calculations, the four-wheel-drive versions of several similar sport utility vehicles made by General Motors -- the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, Oldsmobile Bravada and the new Buick Rainier -- earned four stars, even though they are virtually identical to G.M. vehicles that rated only three stars last year.
          The Volvo XC90, a car-based S.U.V. that has been promoted by the Ford Motor Company, Volvo's parent, for its aggressive use of rollover-prevention technology, also received four stars, not the government's highest rating of five stars - a result that disappointed the company.
          Two pickup trucks, the Toyota Tacoma and the Ford Explorer Sport Trac, tipped up on two wheels during the tests, a poor showing in a rollover test. Regulators also said they were reviewing test results on two Ford S.U.V.'s, the Explorer and the Mercury Mountaineer, but did not say why.
          Vehicle rollovers kill more than 10,000 Americans every year. They are rare but deadly, occurring in fewer than 3 percent of accidents but accounting for a third of vehicle occupant deaths. And the problem has been on the rise as sales of S.U.V.'s have boomed; sport utilities have higher centers of gravity than cars and are three times as likely to be involved in rollover deaths.
          Congress ordered regulators to come up with a more rigorous rollover test in 2000, after nearly 300 rollover deaths in Explorers equipped with Firestone tires. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released the results of these new tests on 16 model lines yesterday. The results were not necessarily indicative of improvements from the 2003 model year, but rather showed that the new test would provide different results and new information about vehicles that had trouble negotiating sharp turns on a test track. In the new tests, actual vehicles are also driven through as many as 10 fishhook maneuvers, a jarring series of turns intended to replicate what happens when drivers drift off the road and then try to overcompensate in their steering.

Newsday, "'Real-World' Rollover Tests; In fed check, no SUV gets best rating"

          A Ford Explorer Sport Trac, a small SUV, earned the lowest score among 28 vehicles in the first group to be rated for their rollover propensity using a new track test.
          One of two Sport Tracs, the one without four-wheel drive, tipped up on two wheels during the track maneuver, which supplements the mathematical calculations on which rollover ratings had been based since 2001, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The vehicle, which has a pickup truck- ike open bed, earned two out of a possible five stars based on the track results and mathematical calculations.
          Results for the four-wheel-drive Sport Trac are "under review," as are those for two other Ford Motor Co. light trucks, the Ford Explorer SUV and similar Mercury Mountaineer. "There were technical problems and we're going to have to do the tests over," said agency spokesman Tim Hurd in Washington.
          The new test, intended to simulate real world conditions, employs a series of abrupt turns at speeds up to 50 mph or until two wheels lift, with vehicles under computerized steering control. All but three vehicles in this test group were SUVs or pickups. Three passenger cars, the Ford Focus wagon, Subaru Outback wagon and Toyota Echo, each earned four stars.
          No vehicle earned five stars but nine SUVs and pickups earned four, including the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickup trucks and the Chevrolet TrailBlazer SUV with four-wheel drive.
          The agency's ratings indicate the likelihood of a rollover in a single-vehicle crash. Five stars indicates a less than 10 percent chance of rollover; four stars 10 to 20 percent; three stars 20 to 30 percent; two stars 30 to 40 percent; and one star greater than 40 percent. Light truck rollovers have been a concern for decades because of their relatively high centers of gravity and growing popularity for family use. The safety agency says 61 percent of all occupant fatalities in SUVs and 40 percent of those in pickups in 2002 occurred in rollovers, compared with 22 percent for passenger cars.

The Detroit News, "Ford Explorer plagued by lawsuits; Majority of cases settled out of court, company says"

The Detroit News, "U-Haul rejects Explorers; Firm outlaws trailer rentals to owners of popular Ford SUV, citing lawsuits"

          U-Haul International Inc. is forbidding its stores to rent trailers to customers who plan to tow with the Ford Explorer, saying it no longer can afford to defend product liability lawsuits linked to the best-selling SUV. The unusual move by U-Haul comes after the Explorer appeared to have overcome lingering image problems associated with the Firestone tire debacle.
          U-Haul -- North America’s largest trailer rental company with more than 17,000 outlets -- implemented the policy Dec. 22, saying the ban was not related to safety. “U-Haul has chosen not to rent behind this tow vehicle based on our history of excessive costs in defending lawsuits involving Ford Explorer towing combinations,” the company told The Detroit News.
          Joanne Fried, a U-Haul spokeswoman, declined to disclose how much the Phoenix-based company has spent defending lawsuits involving Explorers. “The decision is not based on one accident,” she said. “It’s based on several different lawsuits going on for several years.”
          U-Haul was embroiled in a lawsuit that Bridgestone/Firestone settled out of court in September. It involved three college students who were injured in 1999 when their Firestone-equipped Explorer overturned while pulling a U-Haul trailer. U-Haul has no ban on rentals to Mercury Mountaineer owners, although the vehicle is mechanically a carbon copy of the Explorer.
          The slight is the latest in a series of setbacks that have dogged the Explorer, America’s top-selling SUV and the sixth-best selling vehicle in 2003. In August 2001, Firestone was forced to recall 14.4 million defective tires -- equipped mostly on Explorers. The treads on the tires often separated, causing drivers to lose control of their Explorers and often roll over. Federal regulators linked 271 deaths and more than 800 injuries to the defective tires. Ford recalled an additional 13 million Firestone tires in May 2001.
          Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. have spent millions of dollars to settle product liability cases over the tires and SUV. Ford maintains the Explorer is safe. In 2002, NHTSA traced Explorer tire failures and resulting rollovers to tire manufacturing flaws. Still, the controversy prompted federal regulators to adopt ratings that rank SUVs based on their propensity to roll over. The test used to set ratings recently was revised to better reflect real-world driving conditions.