Dow
Jones Newswires
CARACAS -- Venezuela's
Attorney General has postponed the investigation into accidents - sometimes
fatal - involving Ford Motor Co.'s (F) Explorer model mounted with
Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. (J.BDT) tires until next year, local daily El
Nacional reported Tuesday.
Despite complaints from
the consumer safety head, Samuel Ruh, the assistant Attorney General in charge
of the case, Luis Ramirez, guaranteed the case wouldn't be get swept under the
rug the way many do in Venezuela, according to the report.
"It is my name that
is compromised and, because of that, I can promise there will be a prompt
disposition of the case," Ramirez was quoted as saying.
Ruh has reportedly
complained that although Indecu, as the consumer safety body is known, has
tested some 500 tires, the Attorney General's office hasn't certified the
findings and hasn't forwarded them to the courts.
Ford has said tread
separation in various Firestone tires is the "common factor" in
all the accidents, adding that many of the tires didn't meet strength and speed
specifications.
Firestone
has denied this. It has said the problem is related to mislabeling.
Some 600 accident victims
have signed up with a group named Asoexplorer lead by lawyers who are filing
U.S. lawsuits largely because they feel the Venezuelan legal system will likely
let their clients down.
Awards in such cases are
also considerably larger in the U.S. and the lawyers are working on a
contingency basis.
So far, at least 47 deaths
have been attributed to the accidents in Venezuela.