Last modified: Saturday, June 24, 2006 12:34 AM EDT Rehoboth man leads fight against dangerous tires By Rick Foster/Sun Chronicle Staff REHOBOTH -- Ford and Firestone recalled millions of Firestone ATX and Wilderness AT tires in 2000 and 2001 following a spate of deadly crashes and incidents involving `` tread separation'' in which the tires suddenly shredded. But five years later, tires missed by the recall are still causing devastating rollover accidents and killing and maiming vehicle occupants, a local auto safety expert says. Sean Kane, president of Rehoboth-based Safety Research and Strategies, has petitioned the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration to launch an investigation of the recall's effectiveness. Kane and the families of victims of four tire-related accidents are asking that the government work with Firestone and Ford Motor Co. to conduct a consumer notification program to ensure any remaining defective tires are removed. Kane, whose research helped trigger the initial recall, says older Firestone tires that were used as spares or were otherwise missed by the recalls are turning up on vehicles and contributing to rollover accidents. Over the past three years, occupants of sport utility vehicles on which certain sizes of Firestone ATX or Wilderness ATs were installed have been killed or suffered debilitating injuries after one or more tire split apart. `` If anything, these tires are more dangerous now than they were in 2000-2001,'' said Kane, who said long-term storage, heat and physical breakdown can cause tires to wear and fail faster than if they had originally been installed on the vehicle. In some cases, spares suffered critical failure less than six months after being placed on an SUV. Bridgestone Americas, parent company of the Firestone brand, contends its original recall was highly effective even though a company representative says no recall can be 100 percent successful. `` We'll be happy to work with the NHTSA if they have ideas they can suggest,'' said Firestone spokeswoman Christine Karbowiak, who noted 6.3 million of 6.5 million applicable tires were taken back in its voluntary recall. She said the company still is replacing tires included in the recall and is continuing that offer indefinitely. The affected tires and sizes are Firestone ATX p235 75R15 and Wilderness AT p235 75R15 and Wilderness AT p255 70R16. According to Kane, however, at least 20 million tires were subject either to the recall by Firestone or were offered to be replaced by Ford, which used the tires on its Explorer SUV. Of that total, an estimated 8 million tires remained in service. Firestone contends the tires replaced by Ford were not part of the batches subject to the original recall. Both Ford and Firestone conducted massive callbacks of the tires in 2000 and 2001 after a federal investigation determined the tires were prone to tread separations that claimed more than 270 lives in crashes, mostly involving Ford Explorers. Despite the recall, however, motorists and their passengers are still dying or being maimed in catastrophic accidents. According to information on Kane's Web site, Michael Enriquez, 27, suffered debilitating injuries in 2005 after a Firestone tire on his 1993 Ford Explorer pulled apart and the auto overturned on a Florida highway. Enriquez, who had purchased the vehicle six months earlier, is now a quadriplegic. The Web site also details three other serious crashes in which occupants were seriously injured or killed after a Firestone tire shredded. Some of the crashes involved a tire that had been used as a spare and failed within days or months of being mounted. Karbowiak said Firestone is still actively engaged in replacing the suspect tires. `` We still want them back,'' she said. Owners who have a question about whether a tire on their vehicle is subject to the recall should contact a Firestone Auto Care store, she said.