Remember when Congress abandoned the 55-m.p.h. speed limit a few years ago? That may have helped pave the way for this wave of fatal blowouts.
Back in the 1970s, when the 55-m.p.h. speed limit was established, U.S. tiremakers were introducing steel-belted radials--now standard on most American cars, including the Ford Explorers. Even in the '70s the fatal consequences of tread separation were well known. And so were a number of remedies, including the use of nylon caps that form a tourniquet around the belts and rubber to hold them together. Nylon caps are widespread in Europe and other parts of the...