Investigators claim the tires' failure caused crashes that killed eight people and injured 69 others from 1998 through 2009.
Federal investigators say Goodyear knew that some of its recreational vehicle tires could fail and cause severe crashes, yet it didn't recall them for as many as 20 years.
The NHTSA letter says the company should have recalled the tires within five working days of becoming aware of a safety defect, which it apparently knew of as early as 2002. Automakers such as General Motors and Toyota have faced large fines and prosecution from the Department of Justice for failing to recall vehicles in the time frame required by law.
"Goodyear's penchant for secrecy undoubtedly provided an ancillary benefit in preventing injured litigants and their counsel from providing information about G159-related crashes," the letter said."NHTSA was not alerted to the extraordinary failure rate of the subject tires" until documents were released in an Arizona case in 2017, the letter said.
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