defects in Venezuela as early as 1999. A Ford dealer in Saudi Arabia noticed high failure rates of Firestone tires in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait starting in 1997 and in July 1999 began replacing Firestone tires on unsold Ford Explorers and to offer a 75% discount for replacement tires when customers came in for maintenance. Ford and Firestone began testing tires in late 1997 or 1998 and began a limited recall in the Middle East, Venezuela, Malaysia, and Thailand in 1999 and the spring of 2000 but did not notify NHTSA. On February 7, 2000, KHOU-TV in Houston Texas ran a 9-minute story about high-speed Firestone tire failures on Ford Explorers that led to 30 deaths. KHOU was overwhelmed by phone calls from concerned citizens and started directing callers to NHTSA. In 2000, Clarence Ditlow, executive director for the Center for Auto Safety, told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, "Emerging information shows that both Ford and Firestone had early knowledge of tread separation in Firestone Tires fitted to Ford Explorer vehicles but at no point informed NHTSA of their findings". Firestone had more information about tire failures than Ford did because of warranty claims, but Firestone never acted on this information because it always blamed consumers for not maintaining their tires correctly or operating their vehicles in extreme environments, leading to these failures. When Ford and NHTSA looked into concerns about tire failures or rollovers, they consulted consumer complaints to NHTSA's toll-free hotline. The consumer complaints did not reflect the size of the problem because attorneys and their clients had almost completely stopped using the hotline to report tire failures or other complaints. Investigation and possible causes On March 6, 2000, NHTSA began a preliminary inquiry into the high incidence of tire failures and accidents of Ford Explorers and other light trucks and SUVs fitted with Firestone Radial ATX, ATX II, and Wilderness tires. This became a formal investigation on May 2 (PE00-020). On August 9, Firestone recalled all ATX and ATX II tires and all Wilderness AT tires manufactured in Decatur. On August 31, 2000, the Office of Defect Investigation (ODI) upgraded the investigation to an Engineering Analysis (EA00-023) to determine whether Firestone's recall covered all the defective tires. Ford and Firestone both sent root-cause analyses to NHTSA. Firestone argued that vehicle weight, tire design, low recommended inflation pressure, and lower tire adhesion for tires