How Goodyear hid evidence of 'The Worst Tire Made In History' linked to at least 9 deaths

hotstuff · 30th January 2018, 15:13

Came across an interesting article today; about how Goodyear used the American legal system to conceal essential data about unsafe tyres.

How Goodyear Hid Evidence Of 'The Worst Tire Made In History' Linked To At Least 9 Deaths

Considering that we often come across drivers citing 'Tyre burst' as a cause for accidents, there is no way to investigate and keep track of all such accidents in India.

Do we have any way of tabulating how many accidents are caused every year due to faulty / defective / un-maintained tyres?

Also, with better highways, the average speed in India is on the rise. Makes me wonder, are the OEM tyres on various vehicles really rated to run at the speeds they do?

For example, I often come across fully loaded / over loaded Mahindra and Ashok Leyland pickup trucks doing crazy speeds on the Chennai highway, zig-zagging through traffic and overtaking from either side.

I presume that these vehicles are shod with tyres that can take the fully load weight and a bit more; but are these tyres also rated for the speeds (90 ~ 100+ kmph) that these vehicles are capable of.

I know the Speed rating is on the side of the tyre; but considering Goodyear seems to have 'up-rated' the tyre in the article from 65mph to 75mph when the overall speed limits changed, how dependable / believable are the manufacturer's ratings?

Also, I am quite surprised at why Goodyear would want to keep making and selling unsafe tyres for so many years; reminds me of the Ford Pinto story.

Nikhilb2008 · 31st January 2018, 11:34

This is clearly a coverup by Goodyear and they deserve to be penalised heavily. This was clearly a decision from the top to cover it up and shirk as much responsibility as possible.

However, we shouldnt take an exceptional case like this and worry about the companies doing the same in India.

In our country, the only people to be blamed are drivers and car owners. They dont give two hoots about safety and everyone worries more about the money to be spent rather than safety.

Why else would people buy no-name Chinese brands and make it famous?

People dont even bother looking at the tyres to see if they are underinflated or are damaged.

Until this mentality changes, we will continue to see lots of accidents caused due to tyre bursts.

30th January 2018, 15:13	#1
hotstuff BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Campus @ IIMA ! Posts: 368 Thanked: 120 Times	How Goodyear hid evidence of 'The Worst Tire Made In History' linked to at least 9 deaths Came across an interesting article today; about how Goodyear used the American legal system to conceal essential data about unsafe tyres. How Goodyear Hid Evidence Of 'The Worst Tire Made In History' Linked To At Least 9 Deaths Considering that we often come across drivers citing 'Tyre burst' as a cause for accidents, there is no way to investigate and keep track of all such accidents in India. Do we have any way of tabulating how many accidents are caused every year due to faulty / defective / un-maintained tyres? Also, with better highways, the average speed in India is on the rise. Makes me wonder, are the OEM tyres on various vehicles really rated to run at the speeds they do? For example, I often come across fully loaded / over loaded Mahindra and Ashok Leyland pickup trucks doing crazy speeds on the Chennai highway, zig-zagging through traffic and overtaking from either side. I presume that these vehicles are shod with tyres that can take the fully load weight and a bit more; but are these tyres also rated for the speeds (90 ~ 100+ kmph) that these vehicles are capable of. I know the Speed rating is on the side of the tyre; but considering Goodyear seems to have 'up-rated' the tyre in the article from 65mph to 75mph when the overall speed limits changed, how dependable / believable are the manufacturer's ratings? Also, I am quite surprised at why Goodyear would want to keep making and selling unsafe tyres for so many years; reminds me of the Ford Pinto story.
	(7) Thanks

31st January 2018, 11:34	#2
Nikhilb2008 Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 5,194 Thanked: 10,178 Times	Re: How Goodyear hid evidence of 'The Worst Tire Made In History' linked to at least 9 deaths This is clearly a coverup by Goodyear and they deserve to be penalised heavily. This was clearly a decision from the top to cover it up and shirk as much responsibility as possible. However, we shouldnt take an exceptional case like this and worry about the companies doing the same in India. In our country, the only people to be blamed are drivers and car owners. They dont give two hoots about safety and everyone worries more about the money to be spent rather than safety. Why else would people buy no-name Chinese brands and make it famous? People dont even bother looking at the tyres to see if they are underinflated or are damaged. Until this mentality changes, we will continue to see lots of accidents caused due to tyre bursts.
	(2) Thanks