Tire Death Lawsuit Settled for $500,000

A 57-year-old school district employee from Pomona will be paid $500,000 as part of a settlement for the runaway tire accident that killed her husband last year on the Foothill Freeway near Duarte, attorneys said last week.

James Countryman, 59, died of head injuries in the January, 1989, accident, which occurred when a tire flew off a tractor-trailer truck, bounced across the center divider and smashed through the windshield of his pickup truck as he headed home from work.

His widow, Rowena Countryman, a part-time food services assistant in the Pomona Unified School District, alleged in a lawsuit that both the driver and the firm he was hauling for, Vernon Asphalt Material Co. of Irwindale, were liable for the damages.

“No one was alleging malicious conduct,” said Countryman’s attorney, Lawrence S. Eisenberg. “But under California law, the owner and operator of a vehicle has an absolute duty to make sure they’re driving a safe vehicle.”

Vernon Asphalt and George Byles, an independent trucker who was working for the firm on contract, agreed to the settlement Wednesday. They and their insurance companies will pay Countryman $79,000 in cash and place another $221,000 in an interest-bearing account that will ultimately provide her with $500,000 over her lifetime, said Vernon’s attorney, Stephen T. Swanson.

A claim against Johnny’s Tire Service of Irwindale, which installed the tires on the truck, is pending. Countryman’s suit contends faulty installation caused the lug bolts to fracture and the wheel to fly off. Trial has been scheduled for November in Pomona Superior Court.