The lack of Jordanian customs regulations is allowing the entry of expired and badly-stored tires to the Kingdom while creating unfair competition among tire dealers and shortening the life span of vehicles, Jordan Times reported Sunday.
The dealers are calling on the Customs Department and the Institution of Standards and Metrology to set guidelines that specify the manufacturing date and the dot number of the tire before allowing it to enter into the Jordanian market, the daily added.
Citing a 1999 study conducted by the Directorate of Public Security on traffic accidents in Jordan, the paper said that worn out tires were blamed for 54.8 percent of the 50,330 traffic accidents
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has linked many of road accidents to faulty Firestone tires, leading to around 119 fatalities, according to AFP.
The federal agency said the total was based on "information coming into us from a variety of sources" following the publicity surrounding flaws linked to fatal accidents in Ford Explorers, said AFP late October.
More than 500 were reported injured and the traffic agency was reviewing some 3,500 complaints.
Firestone, which earlier this year agreed to recall 6.5 million tires linked to fatal accidents, agreed to recall an additional 1.4 million tires.
Firestone, a unit of Japan's Bridgestone, issued a statement extending its "deepest sympathies" to friends and families of those who died in the accidents, added AFP report -- Albawaba.com
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
