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Ford argued that Firestone was at fault, noting that its SUVs and pickups equipped with Goodyear tires experienced no rollover issues, even when inflated at low air pressure. By now, most Explorer, Mountaineer, Ranger, B-Series, and Navajo tires have been replaced, and the rollover reports have subsided, further lending credit to Ford's position that the design of its vehicles was not at fault, although the Explorer's manufacturer recommended tire inflation of only 26 pounds per square inch (179 kPa) likely contributed to the tread separation problem by causing the tires to operate at higher than normal temperatures. Part of the rollover issue was poor driver reaction to the tire blowout. When a tire blew, the vehicle would experience a sudden sharp jerk, and many drivers reacted by counter-steering in an attempt to regain control. This action would cause a shift of the vehicle's weight, resulting in a rollover especially at higher speeds (many reports of rollovers were of vehicles being driven at speeds of 70 mph (110 km/h) and above). In a test simulating dozens of tire blowouts, Larry Webster, a test-driver for Car & Driver magazine, was repeatedly able to bring a 1994 Explorer to a stop without a single rollover, even at speeds of 70 mph (110 km/h). According to Forbes magazine, car experts and NHTSA claim that the vast majority of crash accidents and deaths are caused not by the vehicle, but by the driver, by road conditions or some combination of the two. In response to Firestone's allegations of the Explorer's design defects,
NHTSA undertook a preliminary investigation and reported that further action was not required. Its conclusion was that the Explorer was no more prone to rollover than other SUVs given their high center of gravity. The subsequent introduction and proliferation of electronic stability control systems have essentially addressed and mitigated this shortcoming. On December 22, 2003, U-Haul, the largest North American equipment rental company, announced that they would prohibit their outlets from renting trailers to persons planning to tow behind Ford Explorers due to liability concerns. This however was completely baseless by that time as the problem had been corrected with the tire recall, and the corrected inflation recommendation. Further,
U-Haul trailers