Kaizaki hails Govindjee report as Bridgestone/Firestone legal problems mount

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Oct. 24)—A Reuters report quoted Bridgestone Corp. Yoichiro Kaizaki as saying that an interim report on possible problems with 6.5 million recalled Firestone tires "had shown no major development or production problems." Sanjay Govindjee, a University of California engineering professor retained by Bridgestone/Firestone Inc., released an interim report saying the problem with the tires appears to be "a slowly developing fatigue crack that propagates through the belt wedge material." A Bridgestone/Firestone spokeswoman said the company hasn´t yet seen a translation of Kaizaki´s remarks, but added that it thinks Kaizaki was saying "there´s not anything wrong with the tires that´s standing out, that´s immediately visible." Company spokespersons, meanwhile, said there was nothing new about the lawsuits filed in Mexico City by an attorney who claims the failure of Firestone tires have caused 28 deaths in Mexico, or about the verbal settlement reached between the tire maker and the children of a Texas couple who died in a crash when the tread separated from a Firestone tire on their vehicle.