$10 Million Won by Man Crippled in Car Crash

A Glendale man crippled in a car crash caused by a tire blowout won a settlement Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court that will give him $10.1 million over the course of his life.

The Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. agreed to pay the money to Sam Madik, 31, an electrician at the Burbank Studios until he was paralyzed from the mid-back down when his car overturned July 19, 1980.

The settlement package, which includes a $1.5-million cash payment and monthly payments totaling $60,000 a year for life, is one of the largest ever made over an alleged defect in a Firestone tire, claimed Madik’s attorney, R. Browne Greene of Los Angeles.

Lebanese Immigrant

The present cash value of the settlement was estimated at $2.25 million, and another defendant, Ronald Marsden of San Fernando, who formerly owned the car, added another $25,000 to the package, said Marsden’s attorney, Norman C. Macdonald of Los Angeles.

Madik, who emigrated from Lebanon in 1975, was returning home from San Francisco with four friends on California 152 near Fresno when the left rear tire blew out and caused the car to roll over, Greene said.

The driver and the other three passengers escaped with minor injuries. They settled separate lawsuits earlier, Macdonald said.

Earlier Tires Recalled

Greene said the tire was an early version of the steel-belted Firestone 721, which Marsden had put on the car to replace four Firestone 500 tires that had been the subject of a nationwide recall.

Greene claimed the tire came apart because of improper bonding of the steel belts to the tread. Firestone had claimed that the tire had hit an unknown object at an unknown speed, causing a tear and the eventual blowout, Greene and Macdonald said.

Neither defendant admitted any liability as part of the settlement, Macdonald said.

Both Madik and Firestone claimed that Marsden was partly to blame for failing to maintain the tires on the car while he owned it, a claim Macdonald said was common in tire-blowout cases. Marsden sold the car to the driver involved in the accident.

More Surgery Faced

Greene said that Madik faces more surgery, including a back operation in the near future. The lawyer said the settlement will be used to pay $120,000 in past medical expenses and to repay a bank loan Madik has taken out to help support himself since the accident.

“And future medical costs are estimated at $2.6 million at present value,” Greene said. The settlement was reached during negotiations with Superior Court Judge Richard N. Parslow.

J. Gary Hastings, lawyer for Firestone, could not be reached for comment.