'No tire industry standard' for property damage claims, Shea says

WASHINGTON (June 27)—The tire industry has no definition of property damage claims or accepted average for an appropriate claims rate on tires, according to a news release from Donald B. Shea, Rubber Manufacturers Association president. "Property damage claims and the associated claims rate have not, do not, and cannot define the safety of a tire," Shea said. "U.S. tire makers actually use a number of indicatorsàwhen determining if a process of post-manufacturing study, testing, analysis and evaluation of a tire is warranted." Shea spoke in reply to a House Energy and Commerce Committee study which showed that 11 tire models Ford Motor Co. is using to replace 13 million recalled Firestone Wilderness AT tires exceed Ford's benchmark claims rate figure of five per million.