DETROIT - A newspaper report that said Ford Explorers have a higher rate of tire-related accidents than other sport utility vehicles was criticized Monday as flawed by company officials.
Ford has blamed Firestone tires for any increase in Explorer accidents, and 6.5 million Firestones have been recalled after they were linked to 101 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
The tires were standard on many Explorers. But experts said a Washington Post analysis printed Monday suggested the Explorer itself may play a role in accidents, even when other tires are involved.
The analysis gives ''an indication that there may be a factor with the Ford Explorer beyond the tire issue,'' said James Fell, a former research chief for the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration. ''It's a first indicator that they may have a stability problem.''
The newspaper on Monday defended its story and its analysis, and said that auto industry experts had verified the study.
''In our story (Monday) we have several experts quoted as saying that the methodology we used was valid. We stand behind that,'' said Jill Dutt, assistant managing editor for business news. ''The results of our analysis raise questions that experts say bear further investigation.''
The Post looked at fatal crashes nationally from 1997 to 1999 and at fatal and nonfatal crashes in Florida during the same period.
The newspaper's analysis of 2,000 fatal accidents involving SUVs nationwide concluded that Explorers with Goodyear tires had a higher rate of tire-related accidents than did other SUVs. It could be a statistical fluke because the database was so small, the Post said.
The analysis also included Florida data covering 25,000 fatal and nonfatal SUV accidents in which there were 83 blown tires.
''Tire blowouts in Goodyear-equipped Explorers contributed to crashes at rates more than double those of other SUVs,'' the newspaper reported.
The paper also found that in Florida for the model years 1995 to 1997, the Explorer was 13 percent more likely to roll than other compact SUVs, and was 53 percent more likely than other compact SUVs to roll over when an equipment failure such as faulty brakes, bald tires or blowouts caused an accident.
Spokesmen for Ford and the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said the analysis was faulty because the number of accidents examined was too small to be meaningful, accident databases don't always accurately identify vehicles and Explorers shouldn't be compared to the full range of SUVs.
Ford spokesman Jon Harmon said the Explorer was safer than its competitors in all accidents, including rollovers. Harmon said he had no explanation for why the Post's analysis found Explorers rolling over more often in accidents than other compact SUVs.
''Any way we looked at it (the data), the Explorer's safety record has shone through,'' he said.
The Post did not immediately return a call seeking comment placed by The Associated Press.
Goodyear spokesman Chuck Sinclair said the figures the Post used from Florida were questionable, because there were no specifics on how the tires failed.
Sinclair said the company had no reports of accidents, injuries, rollovers or fatalities, and no damage claims or lawsuits, from Ford Explorers with Goodyears in Florida.
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On the Net:
http://www.ford.com
http://www.goodyear.com
http://www.firestone.com
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25660-2000Oct6.html
