Tire Defect Suit Goes to Trial
Bridgestone/Firestone has handed hundreds of crash victims untold sums of money to keep their injury and death lawsuits out of court. So has Ford Motor Co.
The silent streak ended Monday when lawyers gave their opening arguments in the first Bridgestone/Firestone tire defect lawsuit to reach trial since the company recalled 6.5 million tires last summer.
Bridgestone/Firestone’s courtroom strategy is fairly simple: Blame Ford.
“The Ford Explorer is uncontrollable at highway speeds,” Firestone lawyer Knox Nunnally told a jury in McAllen, Texas. “While Firestone is responsible for the tire, Ford is responsible for the safety of the entire vehicle.”
The family of Marisa Rodriguez, a 39-year-old woman who must now use a wheelchair after the Ford Explorer in which she was riding rolled over on a Mexican highway last year, originally sued both Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone.
In July, Ford paid the Rodriguez family $6 million to drop their complaint, according to a letter filed in federal court in McAllen. Monday afternoon, as opening arguments ended, aBridgestone/Firestone spokeswoman also would not rule out the possibility of a settlement.
“Up until the jury renders a verdict,” Chris Karbowiak said, “there’s always time for a settlement.”
Firestone tires have been blamed for at least 203 traffic deaths in the United States and more than 700 injuries. The most common complaint is vehicle rollover caused by tread separation. Most of the vehicles were Explorers.
Until the flurry of lawsuits, Ford and Bridgestone/Firestone had enjoyed a century-old partnership. In May, the corporations severed their ties in the midst of an escalating dispute over whose product was at fault for the crashes. Ford blamed flawed tires for the rollovers; Bridge-tone/Firestone blamed the design of the sport-utility vehicle.
“This [trial] is Firestone’s opportunity to stick it to Ford,” said Sean Kane of Strategic Safety, a firm that researches motor vehicles for plaintiffs’ lawyers.
“It’s pretty stunning. I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like this before, these two corporations pointing fingers at each other.”
Meanwhile, lawyers for the Rodriguez family insisted that Bridgestone/Firestone knowingly sold a flawed product and should not slip away from its responsibility to injured accident victims.
“They lied and misrepresented and lost trust,” attorney Tab Turner told the jury. “This family will suffer for the rest of their lives for corporate greed, for a company that put money over the safety of consumers.”
Rodriguez and her husband, Joel, drove to the courthouse in a Chevrolet Tahoe sport-utility vehicle. Rodriguez, the mother of three young children, struggles to speak because of the crash and will spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.
In May 2000, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into Bridgestone/Firestone tires. Three months later, the company recalled 6.5 million Wilderness AT, ATX and ATX II tires.
The next month, the safety agency suggested drivers replace another 1.4 million tires--but Bridgestone/Firestone refused to recall those tires.
The federal agency has said that it expects to order an expanded recall of Firestone tires within a few weeks. Karbowiak said Monday that the company will fight any more recalls.
“There is no need to replace good tires with other tires,” she said. “If necessary we will avail ourselves of the legal system.”
In May, as Bridgestone/Firestone resisted the recalls, Ford offered to replace all 13 million Firestone Wilderness AT tires on its vehicles.
“Firestone has reacted from the get-go like deer in headlights,” Kane said. “They were not set up to deal with the crisis.”
Testimony before U.S. District Judge Filemon Vela is expected to last about two weeks. Both sides have agreed to call just one expert apiece to testify. The Rodriguez family is seeking as much as $1 billion in damages.
