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California Jury Awards $18 Million in Wrongful Death Verdict to Family of Rollover Accident Victim

The family of an 11-year-old boy who was killed in an SUV rollover accident in Riverside after a tire blew out, has been awarded $18 million by a California jury. The retailer that sold the family the tire, American Tire Depot was held liable in the boy’s death.

In May 2006, 11-year-old Willy Moreno was traveling in his family’s Ford Explorer, when a tire blew out, causing the SUV to flip over several times. It was later found that the left rear tire had suffered a tread separation. Investigations later found that the Firestone tire that had blown out, was more than 12 years old at the time of the accident.

The Moreno family’s lawyers argued that American Tire Depot was negligent because it was responsible for rotating the tire when the Morenos came in for a replacement tire. The Morenos had visited American Tire Depot to change two tires. The retailer however, only sold them one tire, and told them to rotate the spare in.

The role that aged and defective tires can play in rollover accidents has been extensively explored by legislators and California product liability lawyers. There has been plenty of evidence to show that old tires that are past their prime can blow out when a vehicle is traveling, causing the vehicle to possibly flip over with devastating consequences. In fact, most automakers and tire companies issue bulletins recommending the age of the tires. Typically, the shelf life of a prior can range from 6 to 10 years.

The Moreno’s lawyers presented evidence before the jury to show that both the maker of the car Ford, and tire company Firestone had issued bulletins recommending that tires past their prime be taken off service. Bridgestone Firestone issued a bulletin asking retailers to replace old tires that were more than 10 years old with new ones. That bulletin was issued in 2005. That same year, Ford came out with a bulletin asking retailers to replace tires after six years of normal service. There is no way that American Tire Depot was unaware of these recommendations.

After the tragedy that killed their son, the Moreno family lobbied hard to pass a bill that would require tire retailers to issue a certificate disclosing the age of the tire at the time of the sale. The bill passed the California Assembly, but after strong lobbying by tire companies, was withdrawn by its sponsors before it could reach the state Senate.

There are no federal laws requiring tire manufacturers to disclose an expiration date for a tire. California injury attorneys and auto safety groups have lobbied for passing a law that will make the age of the tire clear to buyers at the time of purchase. However, the powerful tire lobby has been successful in thwarting such efforts. According to tire companies, there are several other factors that go into deciding whether a tire is safe or not, including maintenance of the tire, and amount of use.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of SUV rollovers. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not representing any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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