Texas Couple Sues Goodyear After Motorcycle Crash

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Posted on 31st March 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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A Texas couple is suing Goodyear Dunlop because they allege that a D250 Radial motorcycle tire was defective, making them crash and suffer severe injuries. http://www.prweb.com/releases/motorcycle_accident/motorcycle_tires/prweb3777974.htm

Martin Stricker of Brownwood, Texas, was riding his Honda GL 1800 Gold Wing with his wife Loretta on the back on US 67 south of Abilene, Texas, when the motorcycle’s rear tire “suddenly and without warning deflated,” according to the lawsuit.

During the Aug. 8, 2008 accident the motorcycle slid sideways, flipped over and ejected Stricker and his wife.

The personal injury lawsuit also names as defendants Honda Motor Co. and Woods Fun Center of Austin, Texas, which sold Stricker the bike and the tire. The suit alleges that Woods replaced the used tires on the motorcycle with tires they claimed were new, when in fact the rear tire was six years old. There was a defective bead in the tire, which caused it to deflate, the suit claims.

For more on lawsuits related to improper installation of tires, go to http://car-accident-rain.com

Cooper Tire Must Pay Out $32.8 Million in Fatal Minivan Rollover Accident

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Posted on 24th March 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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A jury has awarded $32.8 million in damages against Cooper Tire & Robber Co. in a case involving a fatal minivan rollover in Iowa.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aMqqH8qA8F2Y# A jury in Des Moines, Iowa, found that Cooper was liable for the accident, which involved a Chrysler minivan that had Cooper tires on it. The panel determined that the tire that was on the minivan wasn’t “state of the art” when it was designed and made. Lawyers for the plaintiffs maintained that the tire was defective.

Cooper Tire plans to appeal the large jury verdict. The tire maker defended its tires as safe, blaming its failure on its “long-term underinflated operation.”

The Grand Voyager minivan, owned by plaintiff Achol Deng Meiwan, had gotten a nail in it, for some time. The nail was still in the tire after the accident.

The van was filled with co-workers from the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Marshalltown, Iowa.

The jury awarded Ivan Toe, a 39-year-old woman who became a paraplegic from the accident, $28.4 million. Her children are to receive $65,000.

The estate of a woman who lost her life in the accident, Assata Karlar, 28, will get $649,000. Her husband will receive $420,000, with their five children awarded more than $1 million.

Cooper Tire must also pay punitive damages of $1.5 million.

Alaska Winter Tire Bills Faces Tough Road

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Posted on 6th March 2010 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

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A bill that would have required Alaska residents to use winter snow tires has received a stormy reception in the Far North. http://www.tirebusiness.com/subscriber/headlines2.phtml?cat=1204552929&headline=Alaska+legislator+seeks+support+for+bill+mandating+winter+tire+use&id=1267799240#

The bill, sponsored by Rep. John Harris, R-Valdez, had one hearing before the Transportation Committee of the Alaska House of Representatives Feb. 19.

But Valdez has postponed a second hearing that had been set for Feb. 25 on the bill, which has drawn phones calls, FAXs and letters to the editor from its opponents. Harris is trying to rally support for the legislation.

The bill mandates that Alaska drivers either have studded tires or those with a mountain-snowflake symbol between Dec. 15 and March 15, starting Dec. 15, 2011.

During the first hearing, one presentation said that about 90 percent of Alaska residents use all-weather or summer tires in the winter, even though studded tires cause a 10 percent decrease in winter road accidents. In 2007 some 6,600 auto accidents, or 63 percent of the accidents in Alaska that year, took place in the winter.