By MARTA W. ALDRICH
The Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Firestone voluntarily recalled nearly 100,000 tires Tuesday because of a design flaw that causes the tires to crack; its third recall in the last six months.

Most of the 98,500 recalled P205/55R16 Firehawk GTA-02 tires are fitted on the 2000 and 2001 models of the Nissan Altima SE.

Firestone said it was not aware of any accidents, injuries or lawsuits related to the tires.

A company analysis of tires consumers brought back for adjustments determined that overly wide steel belts could lead to cracking on their surface.

While Firestone said its tests did not cause tread belts to detach, the company concluded that more adjustments may be needed.

“Even though extensive testing shows these tires continue to perform adequately once the crack appears, we believe the safety recall is appropriate based on the frequency with which this cracking may occur and the fact that the crack starts on the inside shoulder of the tire and is not obvious to the driver,” said John Lampe, president, chairman and CEO of Bridgestone/Firestone.

The company said it will mail notices to customers by March 12 and will replace the tires at no cost with new Firehawk GTA-02 tires in which the design problem has been corrected. To ensure an adequate supply of replacements, Firestone also will make available its Bridgestone Potenza RE92 and Turanza EL41 tires, which have been approved by Nissan.

It was Bridgestone/