Many Hoosiers recognize that Elkhart, Indiana is known as the RV Capital of the World. The RVIA (Recreational Vehicle Industry Association) confirms that 80% of the world’s recreational vehicles originate here in Indiana, and 60% of the world’s RVs are built in Elkhart County.
This is a big deal, economically: in 2015, the recreational vehicle industry generated $50 Billion in revenue, and business is booming. RVIA expects over 500,000 RVs to be manufactured and shipped out of Indiana this year.
For more on the history of RVs and Indiana, read “How Elkhart Became the RV Capital of the World,” by former staff historian for the RV/MH Hall of Fame, Al Hesselbart for Inside Indiana Business, published on June 2, 2016.
This brings us to a vital component on all those recreational vehicles that are manufactured here in Indiana: their tires.
The Goodyear Tires for RVs: G159 Failures
Back in 2002, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company already had several complaints about a specific tire that RV Manufacturers were installing on their RVs: the Goodyear G159 Tire. Goodyear sent out a notice to one RV Maker, agreeing to replace these RV tires for free on one RV. See, “Report: Why Didn’t Goodyear Recall RV Tires?” published by RV Business on June 18, 2018.
Internal Goodyear documents reveal Goodyear knew the G159 should not be used on recreational vehicles because the tires fail when they get hot. Goodyear did not want to share this information and fought hard to keep the information quiet.
So much so, that Goodyear was sanctioned by a federal judge for withholding heat test results on the G159, among other tests. See, page 33 of the 66 page Sanctions Order signed by the Honorable Roslyn Silver, Chief United States District Judge on November 8, 2012, in Leroy Haeger, et al., Plaintiffs, vs. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., et al., Defendants, filed in the United States District Court of Arizona as Cause No. CV–05-02046-PHX-ROS.
Today, the Goodyear Tire G159 has never been recalled. It’s been termed “the worst tire made in history,” but Goodyear at no time issued a recall. They opted to continue selling the tire, and entering into confidential settlements with accident victims instead.
According to a recent investigative expose published by Jalopnik, almost 100 people have died from injuries caused by RV accidents involving the G159. NHTSA finally began investigating things in mid- December 2017. The tire has yet to be recalled.
For more, read the story by Ryan Felton for Jalopnik, published on June 7, 2018, entitled “Why Didn’t Goodyear Recall An RV Tire That’s Linked To At Least 98 Deaths And Injuries?”
Read the December 2017 NHTSA Investigation Summary here.
OIG Investigating G159 Tire Complaints
Continuing his investigations into the Goodyear G159 Tire, reporter Ryan Felton published another article in his series for Jalopnik on July 30, 2018, entitled “New Federal Probe of Goodyear’s Deadly RV Tire Could Lead to a Criminal Investigation.”
Seems reporter Felton discovered that the Office of the Inspector General was apparently digging into the Goodyear G159 Tire situation. How did Felton learn this? In the official Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request submitted to the OIG, the Inspector General responded by denying access to the agency’s documents based upon an exemption that “…protects information in law enforcement files…” when there is an ongoing investigation.
Today, NHTSA is finally investigating Goodyear’s actions regarding its G159 RV Tire and the OIG is looking into criminal bad acts connected with the deadly tire.
Deadly Danger of the Goodyear G159 Tire
After dozens of accidents and almost 100 deaths, it is understood that these tires overheat when the RV reaches higher speeds. The overheating causes the tires to fail. They blow out. The tread falls apart and separates. The drivers lose control of the heavy motor vehicles, and serious crashes happen.
Of course, tire makers are supposed to report defective products. They are supposed to issue recalls voluntarily when they discover problems with their products. Federal and state laws require manufacturers to take these actions for the public safety.
Motivations of Manufacturers Faced With Recalls
The problem is that some manufacturers do not care about public safety when it is compared to profits. The reality that Goodyear went so far as to High Noon with a senior federal judge over federal court sanctions for holding back internal company confirmation of its early heat tests on these tires is one clue to the company’s motivations here.
Another clue is the fact that reporter Ryan Felton’s work reveals Goodyear entered into settlements with G159 accident victims and tried to keep the lid on those confidential settlements – while never acting to issue a recall to warn RV owners, or RV sellers like all those RV makers in Elkhart, Indiana, that the G159 is a danger tire.
Crunching numbers may well reveal that it was cheaper on their bottom line to wait for injury claims and pay them than to deal with a product recall.
Think this is unfair? Well, this is the same company that entered into a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission three years ago, agreeing to pay $16 Million as a fine for violating federal anti-bribery laws contained in the Federal Corrupt Practices Act. Seems Goodyear allegedly got caught paying bribes to help tire sales (Goodyear denied liability as part of the settlement deal). For details, read “Goodyear Agrees to Settle Bribery Case,” published on February 24, 2015, by the New York Times.
Recalls, Defective Products, and Greed
In our last post, we discussed how the OIG just issued a report finding that NHTSA is failing to do enough to protect all of us from defective products in passenger vehicles. Consumer Reports tallied the number of NHTSA recalls: in 2017, they had issued fewer recalls than in any prior year.
For everyone concerned with auto safety and the prevention of fatal traffic accidents, this is a serious concern. The weakness of the recall process for defective motor vehicle parts means that the danger of deaths caused by failing car parts is much higher than we realize.
The Goodyear G159 story exemplifies how vital recalls are to the prevention of serious and deadly crashes. The tire was never recalled. It has not been recalled even today.
The maker apparently chose profits over people and settled accident claims as they were presented, rather than make known that the G159 Tire was defective.
As advocates for accident victims and their families, the sad truth is that corporate greed all too often motivates manufacturers, as well as distributors, retailers, repair companies, and others to choose profits over people. This is why government oversight and the recall process are so important.
It also increases the importance of personal injury claims being filed and justice being pursued against these companies when severe injuries or fatalities result from a defective product. Demands for damages recognized under the laws of Indiana and Illinois may add up to millions of dollars – and this is the language these profit-hungry defendants understand.
Given the “inadequate” state of things at NHTSA, personal injury accident claim demands may be the only real avenue to get dangerous car parts off the roads. Let’s be careful out there!
