Michelin Compensates Mother of Pre-Teen Killed in Crash in Mexico

The Ammons Law Firm has successfully resolved a product liability case against Michelin on behalf of a mother who lost her 12-year-old daughter in a single-vehicle rollover triggered by a tire failure. Six members of an Arkansas family were traveling on a Mexican highway in their Dodge Ram when the tread on its left rear tire separated from the carcass. The sudden tire failure caused the Ram to leave the roadway where it rolled over. The 12-year-old suffered deep, blunt force trauma to her head, chest and abdomen in the crash and tragically died at the scene.

The tire that failed was a Uniroyal Goodrich Sport King Radial A/T designed and manufactured by Michelin. The tire had no patches, plugs or unrepaired punctures. Remaining tread depth was over three times what was needed to be legal. In the wrongful death lawsuit brought on behalf of the grieving mother, however, Rob Ammons claimed that the tire had serious defects. According to Ammons, inspection of the tire revealed liner pattern marks, trapped air impressions, and overlapped/irregularly placed belts. These are all indicators that substandard materials and inadequate assembly/curing processes were used to build the tire. Ammons also contended that the tire had a cracked inner liner splice which allowed an increased amount of air to migrate into the tire where it caused premature deterioration of the tire’s internal components.

“When a tire as defective as this one takes the life of a child, true justice is beyond our reach, but the company must at least be made to pay,” says Ammons. “It is simply unacceptable to build and sell a tire without the care necessary to make it reasonably safe and durable.”

The Ammons Law Firm has a nationwide personal injury practice focusing on tire defects, truck accidents, rollovers, consumer protection and product liability, catastrophic injury, wrongful death, post-collision fires, seat belt defects, airbag defects, and plant explosions.