The Firestone and Ford tire controversy of the 1990s saw hundreds of people die in automobile crashes caused by the failure of Firestone tires installed on light trucks and SUVs made by Ford Motor Company.
Unusually high failure rates of P235/75R15 ATX, ATX II, and Wilderness AT tires installed on the first-generation Ford Explorer and similar vehicles caused crashes that killed 238 people and injured around 500 others in the United States alone; more died in other countries.
The revelations halved the market value of Firestone parent company Bridgestone, which fired or accepted the resignation of several executives and closed the Decatur, Illinois, factory where the tires were manufactured.[1] Ford also fired or accepted the resignation of executives. Each company publicly blamed the other for the defects, a disagreement that ended the companies' nearly 100-year relationship.[2]
Congressional inquiry into the scandal led to the enactment of the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act in October 2000.