Marta Shugart's Speech at National Press Club

It is by the Grace of God that I stand before you today and that my children are alive and well.

I, like so many others, placed my trust and confidence in what has since been exposed as a known defective product.

On July 20, 2000, my children and I were involved in a rollover accident. The accident was the result of the left rear tire shredding while on the highway.

This was not the 1st, but the 2nd tire to shred on our recently purchased Ford Explorer in a two month time frame. Both shredded tires were Firestone FR480s.

Had we known in May when the first tire shred that this company had a defective product that was responsible for the deaths of many, we certainly would have had all four tires replaced and not just the two in front.

The Firestone FR480s are not on either the current or pending recall lists, nor do they carry the Decatur, Illinois code on them.

We purchased a Ford Explorer because it was thought to be a safer family car. Had we known about the hundreds that had been injured and killed as a result of rollovers, we would have never risked the lives of our children. Both Ford/Firestone kept life-threatening information a secret from us, the unsuspecting consumer.

These two companies have played Russian Roulette with millions of lives as evidenced by the 6.5 million tires they are now recalling. They have selfishly sacrificed the lives of hundreds in their greed for money. I've heard it said by their CEOs that overall these are good statistics. I'd like to tell the CEOs of both companies my children have names. They are Peter, Devynne, and Ashli, not "statistics."

You claim you care about your customers and their safety, yet at the same time you've spent millions of dollars settling dozens of lawsuits that included "gag orders" as part of the settlement.

These innocent victims whose only crime was buying your defective products, have now been ordered to keep your dirty little secrets. I can't help but wonder how many more secrets you have that threaten the very lives of those that have placed their trust and confidence in your products.

Those of you that have Firestone tires on your vehicle that are NOT on the list, DO NOT place your trust in the words of the very company that was all but FORCED to issued the recall. They are trying to give you a false sense of security. This same company continues to blame US -- the, implied, "incompetent" consumer -- for their negligence.

Last week Jack Nasser was caught in a bold-faced lie regarding Ford's knowledge of the existing dangers.

It is apparent we cannot trust either Ford or Firestone, so my question is, WHO DO WE TRUST? It is a known fact that both companies will go to great expense to insure their profit margin not be affected by something such as a few hundred lives. We must therefore rely on our government entities to protect our safety and lives when it is at the mercy of money-grubbing corporations such as Ford and Firestone.

Can we trust that the appropriate decisions are being made in our best interest by our elected officials? These very same elected officials are by the light of day the Judge and Jury for these cold-blooded murderous companies, and by night getting their back pockets filled by these very same corporations and their CEOs.

I'd like to issue two challenges:

First, Mr. Nasser and Mr. Ono, there are two remaining Firestone FR480s on my vehicle. Since you appear to feel confident in their level of safety, I and my family offer one tire to each of you, but only if you are willing to place these tires on the left rear position of your own Ford Explorer. Why not? They're safe, aren't they? They're not on any of your recall lists!

My second challenge is to our elected officials. We have shown that we have placed our trust and confidence in you as well. We are depending on you to ensure that our safety not be compromised, that your decisions not be biased, nor prejudiced by corrupt corporations, whose only way to right a wrong is by buying their victims' innocence and silence. Do what is right. Stop accepting funds from these companies.

Thank you.