AKRON, Ohio, Nov. 12 - Thanks to Goodyear's Aquatred II wet-traction tire, Newington, Conn., driver Armando Landrian said he avoided being included in a photograph in the Hartford Courant newspaper, which showed the results of a multi-vehicle accident on I-84 in Farmington.

Landrian sent a copy of the photograph to Goodyear, drawing an arrow to a spot where his car escaped damage. "Your Aquatred II tires saved our lives, and we drove away without a scratch," Landrian said.

On a rainy August 26 afternoon, Landrian said he was driving home with his wife from a doctor's appointment. A van in front of his car veered off the road and struck a guardrail. Landrian said his Aquatred II tires stopped his car without sliding.

However, behind his car, a chain reaction left 11 people injured and several cars and trucks damaged. The Courant said police, firefighters and paramedics worked for hours to untangle the mess and reopen the road to traffic.

Referring to the photograph of the accident, Landrian said, "…my car is not there, thanks to Aquatreds. Thank you for making this great tire; this is my third set of Aquatreds. There is good reason for it; they work great in all kinds of weather."

Bob Toth, marketing manager for Goodyear auto tires, said Aquatred has received this type of attention since it was introduced in 1991. Its successor, Aquatred II, was unveiled in 1995.

Aquatred was the first tire with an aquachannel, a deep center groove that literally pumps water from beneath a tire for improved levels of stopping performance and wet-weather traction.

Aquatred's development was based on consumer research that revealed wet traction was the most desired tire feature, next to treadlife.

"That's why Goodyear developed a line of run-flat tires incorporating extended mobility technology and aquachannel science. It's no accident that our Eagle Aquasteel EMT run-flat tire features run-flat capability and wet-traction dual aquachannels," Toth said.

Toth added he was pleased with Landrian's letter. "Even eight years after its debut, Aquatred still gets rave reviews. It's a credit to its technology and the loyal following that has developed among safety-minded consumers," he said.