But... why? I will never understand the thinking that goes into doing stuff like this, especially within a mega-corp. It's the same as with diesel-emissions cheating: if you're successful with that product, you're basically guaranteed to get caught eventually. And if you start from the assumption that it's not going to be a successful product... why even bother?
Seems like a case where the cover-up is actually worse than the crime. From reading the article I did not see where Goodyear marketed the Tire as being suitable for use on RVs. If that is the case the worst they should be held liable for is failing to re-iterate the fact that they should not be used on RVs.
The issue with the tires aside - because that is appalling in itself - I have to wonder what safety standards RV's have to be built to? Because to me, they appear to be little more than a truck-style ladder chassis mated to a fibreglass caravan shell (in essence). Any level of accident in one seems like it would result in serious injury.<p>In the US, do passengers in them have to wear seat belts? And do the vehicles undergo crash testing to the same standards as conventional truck cabs?
Do they actually fail when not underinflated, not overloaded, and not driven above the speed limit?<p>0.2% of these tyres have failed. I can completely believe that far more than 0.2% of tyres are driven overspeed, underinflated or overloaded in their lifetime.<p>I can't really blame a tyre company for making a tyre which fails when used outside it's advertised specifications.
Im still trying to grapple with this one. Its not like Goodyear doesn't have other tires. If they know these things will cause accidents(or over the years learned this was happening) why did they not alter the design? I know it must come down to a cost vs benefit analysis but I cant see how they would come out ahead with a "deadly" tire.
> the tires were designed to handle a sustained temperature of 194 degrees Fahrenheit when traveling at highway speeds between 65-75 mph. In excess of 200 degrees, the tire ran the risk of tread separations.<p>Doesn't seem like there was much margin in the design. How was this even allowed to be sold?
"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had accumulated reports of 61 deaths and more than 100 serious injuries linked to Firestone 500 blowouts."<p><a href="http://www.rubbernews.com/article/19960812/ISSUE/308129970/the-14-million-firestone-500-radials-still-on-the-road-the-radial-was-prone-to-belt-separation-and-blowouts-and-contributed-to-61-fatal-auto-accidents-according-to-the-national-highway-traffic-safety-administration-500-tragedy-crushes-firestone" rel="nofollow">http://www.rubbernews.com/article/19960812/ISSUE/308129970/t...</a><p>I might have thought that the Firestone 500 was "The Worst Tire in History."
Goodyear certainly seems to have a big piece of the responsibility here. But I don't hold the RV manufacturers blameless -- they were the ones selecting and buying a low-speed commercial delivery vehicle tire for a passenger application.<p>Also I'm inclined to believe that many owners didn't inflate them properly. A high load range tire will have a much higher pressure than passenger car owners are accustomed to. Most people just inflate their tires to about 30PSI and that's generally fine for a passenger car.<p>Most consumer tire pumps or inflators would probably have difficulty getting to the proper pressure which can be twice that more than a normal passenger car tire.
In the US at least RV are interesting as far as safety regulations go. Its probably a good peek into what would happen if you removed a bunch of regulation for the normal car industry.<p>No crash testing, no air bags, questionable electrical wiring for a moving vehicle. Flexible propane gas line running into moving slide systems.<p>I have a modern class A which I love, but its built like a 70's automobile, some real head scratching engineering decisions, some of which I have fixed.<p>If you get into RVing especially the larger ones the tire issue is one you worry about and see talked about constantly.<p>The article touched on it some in talking about how Goodyear defended themselves in the suit, and some of it is valid.<p>RV's tend to sit for long periods of time unused, this causes all sorts of issues including the tires. RV tire almost always age out rather than wear out. You should be replacing them at 7 years and they will have plenty of tread when you do. Many RV's are traveling around with 10 year old tires that the owners wont replace because they are very expensive and the tread look fine. There is some debate on if the sitting flat spots them that also contributes to failure issues. They also also typically have sidewall cracking due to long term UV exposure and sitting without flexing.<p>Large RV tires are very sensitive to weight and inflation pressure, much more so than any car I have ever owned. Large vehicles seem to be generally closer to failure limits on all components involved. A under inflated tire seems to be a common cause of blowouts. Again due to sitting for long periods, many will go to take a trip and not bother to check the tire pressure before leaving. Also very few large RV's have TPMS systems, there is a large industry of after market TPMS for RV's that pretty much every recommends you should purchase one of. TPMS should be required by law as I believe they are on cars now. My RV requires at least 82 psi minimum, I run 90 and make sure its maintained.<p>The article mentions the G159's where only rated for 65 mph, a little low, most RV tires including mine are only rated for 70mph. I drive my RV at 65 and below and stay in the rightmost lane except in a very rare passing circumstance. Driving above 65 and especially 70 mph is a menace IMO and I have seen it plenty of times with a large class A passing everyone in the left lane towing a car. There was a video that was going around the RV site not long ago showing a bad blowout of someone doing that [1].<p>There is a whole aftermarket of parts designed to make RV's safer in a blowout, a popular one is safe-t-plus [2], because if you do have a front blowout like that video RV's are very difficult to control due to the weight shift forward. It is actually recommended to not hit your brake but accelerate slightly to stay in control and prevent the brake dive, then slowly come to a stop. Hard to remember in that situation.<p>RV overloading is pretty common too. Many people don't understand the gross weight ratings and many RV's are built with so many features and heavy materials that there have actually been cases of them being over the weight rating if you fill them with gas and have two people on board. My RV has 2500 lbs of carry capacity with a full fuel tank and 5000 lbs of towing. If I fill the water tank that's 600 lbs off the carry capacity, then people and gear. Its recommend to go on a scale and weigh after loaded up to make sure your within your limits. I tow a 4500 lbs Jeep, again many don't pay attention to tow rating and tow their full size pickup weighing 6000 lbs plus a 1000 lb golf cart in the bed.<p>Bottom line the Goodyear was under specced but RV's are not like cars but many people treat them the same, no training is required to drive one unlike a large semi or bus. They really need to be regulated for crash safety and tpms. More headroom is needed in design such as tire speed rating and chassis weight ratings or perhaps more training required to operate them.<p>1. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LkLeljt4t0" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LkLeljt4t0</a>
2. <a href="http://www.safe-t-plus.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.safe-t-plus.com/</a>
Depending on how many people used these tires, the "Worst Tire in History" only claiming nine (reported) lives is actually pretty good. Auto collisions being what they are I'm curious as to the actual numbers behind different tires.