$10.6 Million Verdict in Cement Truck Retread

A recent defective tire lawsuit involving a mother and her daughter went to trial and a jury awarded the plaintiffs $10.6 million alongside another $1.1 million in delay damages. The plaintiffs had named Bridgestone in the accident alongside other defendants including the company that employed the truck’s driver and the company responsible for the retread. Bridgestone and McCarthy Tire Service Co. settled confidentially leaving only the company that employed the driver as a named defendant at trial.

What Happened? 

In July of 2015, the mother was driving with her 5-month-old daughter in a minivan on a New Jersey interstate when they came upon a shredded tread of a tire. The woman swerved away from the tread, which she claims had been lying in the road for at least 30 minutes, and struck a guardrail. The complaint indicated that the same concrete truck had once before experienced a tread failure.

During the collision with the guardrail, the plaintiff and her daughter were partially ejected from the minivan. The plaintiff herself lost her left arm while her daughter had to have part of her left leg amputated.

The plaintiffs successfully argued that the tire itself was designed defectively and was not suited to carry the weight of a cement truck. In addition to Bridgestone, the plaintiffs targeted the McCarthy Tire Service Co., the company responsible for retreading the tire claiming that the company failed to identify serious problems with the tire which would have excluded it as a candidate for retreading.

Why This Case is Important 

Generally, when a defective tire lawsuit happens, it’s because of some collision that occurs on the road. In this case, you have a defective tread casing being left on the road for an extended period of time, causing the accident. While we’ll never know how much Bridgestone and McCarthy Tire Service Co. paid to settle their case, we can imagine that it’s far short of the $10.6 million that Silvi Concrete Products was hit with. In this case, the company had a duty of care to notify a police officer that the tread had been left on the road and was creating an obstruction.

Typically, it is much more difficult to hold the company whose truck driver was driving the truck when a defective tire is involved, but, in this case, that company ended up being the primary defendant. In these cases, companies have vicarious liability when it comes to their employees. If the employee leaves a dangerous condition on the road that could potentially injure other people, then the company is liable for that action. That’s what happened here.

Talk to a Defective Tire Attorney

The Coral Gables tire defect lawyers at the office of Halpern, Santos & Pinkert have successfully litigated numerous defective tire lawsuits securing multi-million dollar verdicts for our clients. We understand what it takes to win lawsuits against tire manufacturers who are generally unwilling to take responsibility for their products. If you’ve been injured, and you think a defective tire is to blame, give us a call or talk to us online to set up a free consultation.

Resource:

pittsburgh.legalexaminer.com/legal/jury-awards-10-6-million-in-defective-tire-case/

https://www.tiredefectattorney.com/yokohama-tire-corp-voluntarily-recalls-529-ry023/