Any vehicular accident case caused by a tire failure and involving death or serious injury should be evaluated for a potential tire defect claim. While many tire failures are not traceable to a design or manufacturing defect in the tire, tires can and do fail because they are defective. Identifying those cases can mean the difference between a full recovery and only a partial recovery, particularly where insurance coverage is inadequate.

Firestone tires were standard equipment on the Ford Explorer, the world's best-selling sport utility vehicle and have been linked to at least 174 U.S. traffic deaths and over 700 injuries.

Ford Motor Co. plans to replace 10 million to 13 million Firestone tires an amount that far surpasses the large recall previously ordered last summer by Bridgestone/Firestone. This extended recall of 13 million Firestone tires will cost Ford $3 billion and force it to idle three plants to free up tires to use as replacements. Ford said it is taking the extraordinary step of recalling the huge number of Wilderness AT tires because it considers them unsafe, and their manufacturer, Bridgestone-Firestone Inc., refuses to recall them.

Ford will replace all 15, 16 and 17-inch Wilderness AT tires on its vehicles for free at Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealers, and reimburse owners who purchase them elsewhere for up to $130 for the 16 and 17-inch tires. Jacques Nasser Ford CEO's said "We lack confidence in the performance of any of Firestone's Wilderness AT tires". "There are enough warning signs there, and we wanted to act in a precautionary sense", he added.