US - Jury orders Michelin to pay nearly $12 million in Texas tyre liability case

ERJ staff report (TB)

RAYMONDVILLE, Texas (Oct. 5, 2009) - A Texas jury has ordered Michelin North America Inc. to pay nearly $12 million in a case involving a 2006 tyre-related accident in Mexico that left six people dead and a 10-year-old boy permanently paralyzed.

The accident, which occurred Dec. 31, 2006, near Matamoros, Mexico, involved a 2002 Ford F-150 pickup truck that was involved in a head-on crash when a Michelin-made BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A tyre-size 285/75R16, load range D-on the truck allegedly suffered a tread separation.

The truck, driven by Jesus Guzman Reyes, swerved into the path of a Chevrolet Suburban driven by Ariel Flores. Mr. Flores, his wife, their two sons and two other boys were killed, and Mr. Reyes' son Jesus Guzman, then 10 years old, was left paralyzed.

Michelin maintains the evidence shows the tyre did not fail before the accident but was damaged in the accident.

The case was heard before the 197th Judicial District Court, Willacy County, Texas.

Attorneys for the plaintiff families argued that:

* The tyre design was inherently defective;

* A leak in the roof at Michelin's Tuscaloosa, Ala., tyre plant had damaged the equipment used to make the tyre; and

* Michelin had failed to warn potential buyers of the defect in the tyres.

Attorneys for Greenville, S.C.-based Michelin argued that the tyre on the Guzmans' truck met all applicable federal safety standards, and that Mr. Reyes was speeding at the time of the accident. Jose Lopez, owner of the truck driven by Jesus Guzman Reyes, also had not properly cared for the truck or the tyres, the company contended.

Surviving relatives of the Flores family and their passengers received about $6.5 million of the damages in the Sept. 10 verdict. Jesus Guzman, however, received the largest single amount-$4 million-with his relatives receiving slightly less than $1.5 million in aggregate.

Michelin and the plaintiffs' attorneys entered into a confidential “High-Low” agreement before the jury verdict, according to Mikal Watts, an attorney representing the Flores family. This means the parties agreed to upper and lower limits for damages and waived their rights to appeal, he said.

A Michelin spokeswoman reiterated the company's position that the tyre was not defective.

“We are convinced, and the tyre forensics clearly show, that the tyre failed as a result of the collision,” she said. “The evidence shows not that the tyre failed before the crash, but that the damage to the tyre lined up exactly to the damage to the wheel, demonstrating that the tyre and the wheel both were damaged in the collision.”

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)