A jury has awarded $18.9 million in damages against Wal-Mart Stores for an accident caused by a tire blowout that killed three people, according to Lawyers USA Online.
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The panel in Maryland found Wal-Mart liable for installing a new tire on an eroded rim, which caused the fatal accident.
The three victims, a mother and her two children, were among eight people who were in a minivan that was returning from California to Maryland. The vehicle’s left rear tire had a flat when they hit Iowa, and they had a new tire put on the rim, Lawyers USA Online reported.
After a new tire was mounted on the rim, the family drove about eight hours before the tire blew out in Indiana, with Lindora Cornejo Calderon of Hyattsville, Md., and her two children killed in the accident, according to Lawyers USA Online.
Attorney’s for the three estates, as well as three others hurt in the crash, filed a negligence suit against the giant retailer and the car’s driver. The jury cleared the driver of any liability last month,
Wal-Mart’s lawyer told Lawyers USA Online that it is considering appealing the verdict.
The accident took place on Nov. 7, 2009, when the tire went flat. The group was driving east on Interstate 80 after having the new tire put on when the driver swerved to avoid something in the road, said Lawyers USA Online,
That’s when the tire blew and the driver lost control, with the vehicle rolling over several times. As a result, Vega sustained a brain injury and lost part of his right leg, according to Lawyers USA Online. Villanueva injured her right hand in the crash.
The trial in Prince George’s County Circuit Court took nine days in January.
