NHTSA Complaint #10588466 — 1993 TOYOTA PREVIA

HANKOOK OPTIMO H724 TIRE P205/75R-14 DOT T7XC HBH. INSIDE TIRE WALL (BACK DRIVER SIDE) SEPARATED ON 04-16-14 TRAVELING I10 WEST AT ARIZONA HIGH WAY SPEED LIMIT OF 75 MPH CAUSING ACCIDENT. NOTHING WAS RUN OVER ON HIGHWAY. SEVERE, ROLL-OVER ACCIDENT. MINI-VAN TOTALED. PURCHASED AT AMERICA'S TIRE, SAN RAMON, CA 07-20-13. TIRE HAD ~ 10,000 MILES WEAR ON 70,000 MILE TIRE. TIRES AND PRESSURE CHECKED 8 DAYS PRIOR. INSIDE WALL SEPARATIONS ARE EXTREMELY RARE. SUSPECTED MANUFACTURING DEFECT. MANUFACTURING QUALITY CONTROL IS NOT HARD. ANY MANUFACTURING DEFECT THAT PUTS HUMAN LIFE IN DANGER IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. WILL NOT PURCHASE HANKOOK TIRES AGAIN. THERE ARE REPORTED PROBLEMS WITH INSIDE WALL CRACKING ON THE HANKOOK OPTIMO H725 TO THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY SAFETY TRANSPORTATION ADMINISTRATION. I HAD REPORTED THE PROBLEM DIRECTLY TO HANKOOK. [XXX], HANKOOK TIRE, CONTACTED ME 04/21/14. HE IS CLEARLY NOT INTERESTED IN THE SERIOUS NATURE OF A POTENTIAL MANUFACTURING DEFECT IN 2 PHONE CONVERSATIONS ON 04/22/14. I CLEARLY STATED SEVERAL TIMES THAT MY INTENT IN CONTACTING THEM WAS FROM A SAFETY PERSPECTIVE. [XXX], FROM HANKOOK TIRE, DID NOT KNOW WHICH MANUFACTURING PLANT HAD MANUFACTURED THE TIRE EVEN THOUGH I HAD PROVIDED THE DOT NUMBER OR IF THERE WERE OTHER KNOWN PROBLEMS WITH THE SAME MODEL NUMBER. IF THERE HAD BEEN A CAR NEXT TO ME OR A CAR BEHIND ME OR A TREE ON THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY, THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN SERIOUS INJURIES OR DEATH WITH THAT TYPE OF INSIDE WALL TIRE SEPARATION. AGAIN, LET ME REITERATE HOW RARE AND DANGEROUS INSIDE TIRE WALL SEPARATIONS ARE. THERE IS NO ABILITY TO CONTROL THE VEHICLE IN THIS TYPE OF SITUATION. THE VEHICLE JERKED TO THE LEFT, THEN JERKED TO THE RIGHT, AND THEN JERKED TO THE LEFT AGAIN BEFORE IT STARTED TO SPIN 180 DEGREES AND ROLL. THERE WERE NO TELL-TALE WARNINGS (ROUGH RIDE) OF THE POTENTIAL INSIDE TIRE WALL SEPARATION LIKE AN OUTSIDE TIRE WALL SEPARATION. A TIRE MANUFACTURER WHO IS LACKADAISICAL ABOUT SAFETY IS DEEPLY TROUBLING. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION