Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

On June 2, 2008, after many years of prodding by consumer advocacy groups and attorneys, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a consumer advisory concerning aging tires. This follows numerous lawsuits involving Explorer/Firestone rollovers, which made the public aware of the potential dangers of tire aging. Additional industry documents and studies have made clear that tires more than six years old are hazardous to drivers, and can result in tread separations, crashes and rollovers.

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In June, we reported that the U.S. Senate panel reviewing a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposal for increased standards in roof strength had asked the agency to delay its decision, originally scheduled for July 1. The NHTSA agreed to further review of the policy, and set a new date for release on Oct. 1. Yesterday, the agency announced another delay, pushing the decision back to December, according to a report in the Detroit News.

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The United States Senate is looking into establishing a sweeping bus safety bill due to the amount of Americans who die each year on buses according to the Washington Post. Buses are no longer considered safe because if a bus rolls over, the outcome is usually injury or death of passengers. If a bus is broad-sided, the frame of the bus will twist, resulting in the bus’s windows popping or the passengers being thrown out of the bus.

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As youngsters head back to school, many will be sharing the ride on public transportation or a school bus. In many cases, students traveling to smaller schools, special events or sporting activities may climb into a 15-passenger van. The vehicle is a popular choice to relatively inexpensively and conveniently transport small groups. But it could be deadly.

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Tire blowouts can lead to loss of control of a vehicle, resulting in serious injuries

Tire failures, blowouts and detreads are foreseeable and preventable events. Manufacturers know that tire treads will wear with proper use and at some point fail if not serviced properly and replaced after their intended period of use has expired.

tire valve stem recall

Tech International recently (May 13, 2008) recalled certain replacement snap-in tire valve stems, model no. Tr413, manufactured between July and November 2006. The rubber portion of the valve stem may crack causing loss of tire pressure.

Continuing to drive on under-inflated tires could damage the tire, possibly resulting in loss of control.

Tech International has agreed to replace the valve stems or a damaged tire, if the damage was due to a defective tire valve.

Owners are advised to contact Tech International at 1-740-967-9015.

Tire tread separation

Tire tread separation can be caused by bonding problems in the tire manufacturing process, contaminants introduced into the tire during the tire making process, under-vulcanization, old ingredients, improper sized components, or something as simple as air being trapped in between the layers of the tire during manufacturing. Detreading of these defective tires can result in single or multi vehicle accidents, or even rollovers. Even the auto manufacturers agree that drivers should be able to pullover, not rollover when a tire detreads. That is unfortunately not always the case.

Do you have a tire blowout claim?

There may be a tire defect claim if an accident was caused by the failure of a tire, leading to loss of control of the vehicle.

If your loved one has suffered a serious injury or death as a result of a tire blowout injury, you may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, loss of wages, and pain and suffering.

Please contact our tire blowout lawyers today by filling out the brief questionnaire, or by calling our toll free number (1-800-898-2034) for a free, no-cost, no-obligation legal evaluation of your case.

the roof is an important structural component of a vehicle and is critical in keeping the occupant safe

To protect occupants in a rollover, maintaining survival space is very important. Survival space is the area around an occupant that remains free of intrusion in an accident. It is the area in which an occupant is able to “survive” the crash. The roof is part of the structural support of a vehicle and is therefore a critical component in keeping the occupant safe.

If a roof crushes substantially during an accident, from a failure of the side rails, headers or support pillars, catastrophic injuries can occur. Often, this decreased survival space results in the occupant’s head impacting some portion of the vehicle causing death, paralysis or brain damage. Sometimes, the occupant can even be partially ejected through an opening created during roof crush.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has proposed an upgrade Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 216 (FMVSS 216) would require that a roof withstand an applied force equal to 2.5 times the vehicle’s weight while maintaining sufficient headroom for an average size adult male. The current standard is 1.5 times the vehicle’s weight. Consumer groups, led by the People Safe in Rollovers Foundation, call for an even stronger standard of at least 3.5 times the vehicle’s weight.

The new standard also would for the first time extend roof strength standards to vehicles with gross weight ratings up to 10,000 pounds. The current standard applies only to vehicles with ratings up to 6,000 pounds, which means about 44 percent of the SUV and pickup fleets currently are exempt.

legal precedent

On September 30, 2003, a Nebraska jury awarded approximately $19.5 million to Penny Shipler, a 36-year-old mother left paralyzed from the neck down in a 1997 accident. She was a passenger in a 1996 Chevrolet Blazer when the vehicle was involved in an accident and rolled over. The roof crushed on Ms. Shipler causing her to suffer a complete spinal cord injury.

General Motors ignored the problem

GM has known for many years that their roofs are too weak. Instead of making the roofs stronger, it relies on inadequate government standards that fail to require manufacturers to conduct dynamic rollover tests on their roofs. GM has failed to build its vehicles with sturdier roofs, and, as a result, people like Ms. Shipler continue to be severely injured or killed. What happened to her was foreseeable and certainly could have been avoided.

There may be a roof crush lawsuit if the roof has deformed or crushed or opened over the occupant’s head by deforming sideways.

Do you have a roof crush claim?

If your loved one has suffered a serious injury or death as a result of roof crush injury, you may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, loss of wages, and pain and suffering.

Please contact our roof crush lawyers today by filling out the brief questionnaire, or by calling our toll free number (1-800-898-2034) for a free, no-cost, no-obligation legal evaluation of your case.

A deadly rollover auto crash in Florida prompted a federal investigation and recall of 6 million tire valve stems after investigators alleged the accident was caused by a cracked stem, according to a report published in Lawyers USA. The recalled product was manufactured in China by Shanghai Baolong Automotive Corp. between July 2006 and November 2006. There could be as many as 36 million of the potentially defective stems currently in use on a variety of automobiles.

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A U.S. Senate panel recommended Wednesday that a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposal on vehicle roof strength requirements be amended so that it does not limit the ability of plaintiffs to sue automakers in roof crush cases, according to an Associated Press report.

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A Senate hearing on roof crush strength and related driver and passenger safety in vehicle rollover accidents is set for Wednesday, June 4, from 10-11:30 a.m. ET in room 253, Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. Sen. Mark Pryor, chairman of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Automotive Safety, called for the hearing after meeting with representatives from non-profit citizen action group People Safe In Rollovers Foundation.

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Since his son Tyler’s death, Kevin Moody has been on a mission to get the roof strength standard, FMVSS 216, upgraded and convince Congress to pass new legislation regulating and mandating a new and adequate roof strength standard beyond what NHTSA, (National Highway Transportation Safety Administration) has proposed.

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