Tragic Indifference: One Man's Battle with the Auto Industry over the Dangers of SUVs

From Publishers Weekly
In a stinging invective, journalist Penenberg outlines the ethical failures and calculated improprieties of two principal automotive-industry companies, along with the struggle of attorney Tab Turner to hold them accountable. Already an established consumer-rights lawyer, Turner began to focus on Ford Explorers equipped with Firestone Wilderness tires in the mid to late 1990s, when the number of cases in which the tread separated from a tire and resulted in an often fatal rollover accident began to become significant. Penenberg uses Turner's involvement in the case of Donna Bailey, who was paralyzed in such an accident in Texas in 2000, as the framework for his book. As Turner investigates further, Penenberg paints a picture of an automaker trying to dominate the lucrative SUV market despite known stability flaws with its signature model in the class, and of a tire manufacturer willing to sacrifice the integrity of its products in order to fulfill the wishes of its biggest client. The writing and structure of the book are somewhat formulaic, as the chief concern is the reportage. Penenberg is also so strident in his tone and puts the companies in such a harsh light that it almost makes one wonder if this is an accurate portrayal, but he offers extensive endnotes from an array of sources to back up his claims. It's a comprehensive and disturbing book, and perhaps its ultimate validation is that Ford and Firestone, which had done business for nearly 100 years, broke ties, and Ford agreed not only to settle Bailey's case for tens of millions of dollars but also to have executives videotaped at her hospital bedside as they offered condolences. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Book Description

Tragic Indifference is the gut-wrenching account of the biggest product liability case in history: the Ford-Firestone fiasco, where delaminating Firestone tires caused Ford Explorers to lose control and crash at highway speeds. The result was a massive recall, consumer panic, and congressional hearings. It all culminated in a lawsuit that would become a watershed for all future auto safety lawsuits.

In February 2000, reports began to surface of an alarming number of rollover cases involving Ford Explorers traveling on Firestone's Wilderness AT tire. As the stories drove a national frenzy of news coverage, no one seemed to know what was causing the devastation. Until one lawyer, who had been campaigning for years to get Ford to acknowledge the dangerous flaws in the design of the Explorer -- an engineering flaw greatly exacerbated by the use of Firestone's tires -- stepped forward to demand that Ford executives take responsibility for the lethal design of their trucks.

More than a courtroom drama, Tragic Indifference reveals the web of individual stories beneath the national headlines. Weaving together harrowing depictions of the accidents and their consequences with the stories of the men and women who labor to police the auto industry and its reckless cost-cutting, Tragic Indifference will transform the way you view the government, the courts, and the media. Above all, this book shows the price the public pays in wrecked and mangled lives when companies focus more on shaving costs than making quality products.

At the center of the story is Tab Turner, a charismatic trial attorney from Arkansas, who has made a career out of forcing Ford and other automakers to own up to their unsafe practices and to admit that they knowingly trade human lives for profits. Given the almost complete lack of government regulation over the auto industry, Turner has become, in essence, the court of last resort for victims of callous auto companies.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"In February 2000, reports began to surface of an alarming number of rollover cases involving Ford Explorers traveling on Firestone's Wilderness AT tire. As the stories drove a national frenzy of news coverage, no one seemed to know what was causing the devastation. Until one lawyer, who had been campaigning for years to get Ford to acknowledge the dangerous flaws in the design of the Explorer - an engineering flaw greatly exacerbated by the use of Firestone's tires - stepped forward to demand that Ford executives take responsibility for the lethal design of their trucks." "More than a courtroom drama, Tragic Indifference reveals the web of individual stories beneath the national headlines. Weaving together harrowing depictions of the accidents and their consequences with the stories of the men and women who labor to police the auto industry and its reckless cost-cutting, Tragic Indifference will transform the way you view the government, the courts, and the media. Above all, this book shows the price the public pays in wrecked and mangled lives when companies focus more on shaving costs than making quality products." "At the center of the story is Tab Turner, a charismatic trial attorney from Arkansas, who has made a career out of forcing Ford and other automakers to own up to their unsafe practices and to admit they knowingly trade human lives for profit. Given the almost complete lack of government regulation over the auto industry, Turner has become, in essence, the court of last resort for victims of callous auto companies." Tragic Indifference also recounts the struggles of Turner's client Donna Bailey, a single mother and outdoor enthusiast who led troubled teens on backpacking trips, as she fought back from the brink of death to confront those ultimately responsible for her accident. Her case became a benchmark for all others that followed.

SYNOPSIS

An existing engineering flaw in Ford Explorers was exacerbated by the use of Firestone's Wilderness AT tire, resulting in a national scandal that erupted in the American press in the winter of 2000. Investigative journalist Penenberg tells the story of Tab Turner, a trial lawyer who worked on behalf of paralyzed client Donna Bailey to hold the companies accountable in a work that is simultaneously a defense of tort law against its big business attackers and their political allies and an indictment of the greed of Ford and Firestone. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In a stinging invective, journalist Penenberg outlines the ethical failures and calculated improprieties of two principal automotive-industry companies, along with the struggle of attorney Tab Turner to hold them accountable. Already an established consumer-rights lawyer, Turner began to focus on Ford Explorers equipped with Firestone Wilderness tires in the mid to late 1990s, when the number of cases in which the tread separated from a tire and resulted in an often fatal rollover accident began to become significant. Penenberg uses Turner's involvement in the case of Donna Bailey, who was paralyzed in such an accident in Texas in 2000, as the framework for his book. As Turner investigates further, Penenberg paints a picture of an automaker trying to dominate the lucrative SUV market despite known stability flaws with its signature model in the class, and of a tire manufacturer willing to sacrifice the integrity of its products in order to fulfill the wishes of its biggest client. The writing and structure of the book are somewhat formulaic, as the chief concern is the reportage. Penenberg is also so strident in his tone and puts the companies in such a harsh light that it almost makes one wonder if this is an accurate portrayal, but he offers extensive endnotes from an array of sources to back up his claims. It's a comprehensive and disturbing book, and perhaps its ultimate validation is that Ford and Firestone, which had done business for nearly 100 years, broke ties, and Ford agreed not only to settle Bailey's case for tens of millions of dollars but also to have executives videotaped at her hospital bedside as they offered condolences. (Dec.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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