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Verdicts and Settlements

$10.6 Million Settlement - Wrongful Death

Judy Smith and Joseph Smith vs. Kent Haskovek; Grand Auto Stores, Inc.; TBC Corporation; and Denman Tire Corporation - Hayward

PLAINTIFF ATTORNEY: Luke Ellis and Andrew Gillin

PRODUCT LIABILITY (DEFECTIVE TIRE) - INJURIES AND DEATH - MINOR

Plaintiffs in this case were Judy Smith, a 35-year-old nurse's aide, and Joseph Smith, a 35-year-old carpenter, of Hayward, the parents of Sencera Smith, four-years-old at the time of her death.

In September of 1985, plaintiff mother was injured and her daughter suffered fatal injuries when their auto collided with defendant Haskovek's vehicle. Haskovek's left front tire blew out and his vehicle swerved to the left, crossed a raised median strip, and crashed head-on into plaintiff mother's auto.

Defendant driver was driving a 1973 Chevrolet Blazer with oversized tires and suspension lifts in the front and rear, so that the Blazer was raised nine inches above its normal center of gravity. A previous owner of the vehicle purchased the tires from defendant Grand Auto two years before the subject accident. Defendant Denman Tire of Warren, Ohio, manufactured the tires and defendant TBC Corporation of Memphis, Tennessee, distributed them.

Plaintiff father sued for loss of consortium. Plaintiff mother sued for her own injuries and Dillon v. Legg emotional distress, and both plaintiffs sued for the wrongful death of their daughter.

Plaintiffs contended that the automotive defendants designed, manufactured, distributed, and sold a defective tire; that no vehicle manufacturer recommended these monster tires, which could only be used on highly modified vehicles, for use of any vehicle; that the subject was stamped with a recommended inflation pressure of 45 pounds per square inch (PSI), while the guidelines of the Tire and Rim Association recommended no more than 30 PSI for the size and category of the subject tire; and that the 50% over inflation of the tire, combined with its history of off-road use, made it dangerously rupture prone.

Experts for both plaintiffs and defendants agreed that the tire suffered rupture damage sometime before the night of the actual blowout.

During discovery, plaintiffs obtained a 10-year-old memorandum signed by defendant distributor's president and sent to tire distributors, including Grand Auto, stating that the use of a tire size not recommended by a vehicle manufacturer could lead to instability of the vehicle and possible accidents.

Plaintiffs did extensive testing of modified and unmodified vehicles to determine how such tires affected loss of control after a blowout, but a modified vehicle with the subject tires could not be controlled. Plaintiffs also obtained a court order allowing them to close the roadway at the accident scene to film a nighttime recreation of the accident.

Automotive defendants contended that the use of the subject tires was safe and proper; that the 45-PSI recommended air pressure stamped on the tire was proper and would not lead to tire failure; that the guidelines of the Tire and Rim Association were only recommendations; and that the subject accident was due to defendant driver's failure to maintain his vehicle properly.

INJURIES: Mrs. Smith - Plaintiff suffered a fractured femur and patella as well as Dillon v. Legg emotional distress. Mr. Smith - Plaintiff claimed loss of consortium and emotional distress.

SPECIALS: Mrs. Smith - Medical $54,630. Wage Loss $26,208.
Sencera Smith - Medical and Burial $26,360.

RESULT: The case settled for a structure with a lifetime payout of $10,800,000; present cash value $4,200,000).