S.U.V. TIRE DEFECTS WERE KNOWN IN '96 BUT NOT REPORTED

A group of personal-injury lawyers and one of the nation's top traffic-safety consultants identified a pattern of failures of Firestone ATX tires on Ford Explorer sport utility vehicles in 1996. But they did not disclose the pattern to government safety regulators for four years, out of concern that private lawsuits would be compromised.

Sean Kane, the consultant, said he had identified 30 cases of tire failure in 1996 -- a few of them involving deaths -- after being retained by lawyers in Texas preparing lawsuits against Bridgestone/Firestone Inc.

But Mr. Kane and the lawyers, lacking confidence in federal regulators, repeatedly decided not to tell the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the problem, said Mr. Kane, who in 1997 became the partner for tire issues at Strategic Safety, a top traffic-safety consulting firm. As Strategic Safety began working on Explorer crashes with lawyers across the country, the consultants and lawyers chose not to submit the safety complaint forms that might lead to government investigations.

''Everyone was very leery of the agency getting involved with this, because a number of plaintiff lawyers have been burned when an investigation has been opened and closed without a finding of a defect,'' Mr. Kane said.

All but 13 of the 203 tire-related deaths reported to regulators occurred after 1996. Firestone recalled all of the ATX tires and some newer Wilderness AT tires in August, and Ford began replacing the remaining Wilderness AT tires last month.

Dr. Ricardo Martinez, the administrator of the traffic safety agency from 1994 to 1999, said he was appalled to learn that information had been kept from his staff for years. He said he would have ordered an immediate investigation if anyone had told him of the tire problems.

Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.