Findlay, Ohio-based Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has been a target of lawsuits in recent years for allegedly endangering American consumers with defective tires for both commercial trucks and passenger vehicles.
Tires from Cooper Tire and other tire producers such as Goodyear, Continental, Michelin, and Bridgestone are allegedly the primary cause for hundreds of accidents each year, injuring and killing scores of individuals.
Road accidents involving large commercial trucks are particularly dangerous and regularly result in serious injuries. Truck tires from well-known tire companies like Cooper Tires may be responsible for hundreds of serious accidents each year, and must be held responsible for producing Tire malfunction.
Joe Lyon is a highly-rated Ohio product liability lawyer, with years of experience investigating the causes of serious auto accidents, and settling accident claims nationwide.
• Cooper Tire & Rubber recalled Roadmaster RM234 tires in 2015 because the tires may have small holes in the sidewall which can cause sudden tire failure. Also in 2015, Cooper Tire & Rubber recalled the Cooper Zeon LTZ tires.
• In 2014, the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company recalled their Wild Country Radial XTX Sport tires, which may experience cracking and broken ply cords in the lower sidewall on the intended outboard side above the rim, increasing the risk of a tire blowout.
• In 2011 and 2012, Cooper recalled several tire models including the Cooper Discoverer, Cooper Mastercraft Courser, the Del-Nat Delta A/S, Del-Nat National A/S Commando, Pep Boys Definity Dakota, and TBC Sigma Stampede. The company stated that contaminated rubber may have been used in the tread compound, which could result in tread separation, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.
• In 2010, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. recalled their Cyclone Radial Tires, which failed to conform to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard requirements. The company reported that at various mileages, the subject tires developed and exhibited tread chunking or cracking. Tread chunks may separate from the tire casing resulting in body damage to the vehicle, and loss of vehicle control.
• In 2006, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. recalled 288,000 tires used on passenger cars and light trucks because of concerns about slow leaks and cracking.
• Roughly 183,000 defective Cooper tires manufactured in 2004 were recalled because of a slow leak caused by a contamination problem in the upper sidewall of some tire models.
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ABOUT THE LYON FIRM
Joseph Lyon has 17 years of experience representing individuals in complex litigation matters. He has represented individuals in every state against many of the largest companies in the world.
The Firm focuses on single-event civil cases and class actions involving corporate neglect & fraud, toxic exposure, product defects & recalls, medical malpractice, and invasion of privacy.
NO COST UNLESS WE WIN
The Firm offers contingency fees, advancing all costs of the litigation, and accepting the full financial risk, allowing our clients full access to the legal system while reducing the financial stress while they focus on their healthcare and financial needs.
There has been extensive tread belt separation litigation involving tire producers, including defective Cooper Tires, and other manufacturers like Uniroyal-Goodrich, Michelin, Goodyear, Bridgestone-Firestone and Continental.
Tread belt separations frequently cause tire blowouts, and resulting Defective Tire Treads accidents can be deadly. Even if a defective tire does not lose pressure the driver may lose control of the vehicle, collide with other vehicles or roll over.
Some tire design problem can be corrected by using proper wedges and cushions at the belt edges, and a nylon overlay design modification. Nylon overlays can eliminate tread separations unless the tire has a significant design or manufacturing defect.
It is proven that nylon overlays can substantially delay failure. Other manufacturing defects can be substantially reduced by appropriate adhesion, proper manufacturing practices, and adequate quality control measures.
Tread separation, the most common defect that demands a tire recall, relates to steel-belted radial tires when the steel components do not properly adhere to the rubber.
When the adhesion fails it can result in a catastrophic tire failure. Tread separation incidents are linked to defective production or design problems. If tires are poorly designed or manufactured, the tires are at risk of tread separation and other failures. Other types of tire failures include:
• Tire tread separation
• Tire blowouts
• Unsafe tire design
• Adhesion defects
• Manufacturing defects
• Insufficient resistance to aging
• Material contamination—foreign materials are sometimes unintentionally cured into tires
• Corroded steel components
• Tires do not meet road safety specifications
• Company officials misleading outside safety inspectors
Thousands of automobile and truck drivers are at risk on America’s roads when tire producers fail to manufacture safe products and do not adhere to normal safety standards set or by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Common truck and auto accident injuries include:
• Orthopedic Injuries
• Rollover Injuries
• Deceleration/whiplash injuries
• burn accident
• Neck & Spinal Injury
• Brain Injury
Legal action is often necessary after serious road accidents because, unfortunately, unless a person is gravely injured or killed, it is difficult to file claims against companies like Cooper Tire and other manufacturers of defective tires.
Consumers and victims should document their accident and contact an experienced attorney to take appropriate measures. Cooper and other tire producers have been sued in recent years, resulting in very large settlements and rightful compensation for accident victims.
In 2013, a jury verdict ruled against Cooper Tire in a fatal tread separation accident and awarded $31.3 million in actual damages and another $1.5 million in punitive damages. Soon after the ruling, the Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. agreed to settle dozens of other lawsuits over tread separation claims.
Serious injuries and accidents often result through no fault of the injured party, yet the injured victim suffers from life altering physical, mental and financial losses. Such economic and human losses can have devastating financial consequences on individuals and families if not properly compensated. Tort law allows those individuals to seek just legal recourse through personal injury lawsuits.
Any kind of negligence by an individual or company that causes injury or harm can lead to filing a personal injury lawsuit. The amount a plaintiff is entitled to depends on several factors, particularly how egregious the act and how serious the injury.
Personal injury attorneys generally only will take cases on a confidential and contingency fee basis, which means your lawyer will only get paid if he or she is able to reach a settlement or positive verdict. The Lyon Firm will review your case for free and assess what compensation any plaintiff can expect through litigation.
Personal Injury cases can range from minor auto accidents to complex lawsuits filed against large corporations. The Lyon Firm has handled both with equal care. Severe injury requires legal action on occasion, no matter if the injury is the result of a vehicle accident, a dog bite, a boating accident, workplace injury, defective consumer products, medical malpractice, or toxic exposure.
Pre-Suit Investigation and Negotiations: Personal injury lawsuits are unique and require a thorough investigation before a lawsuit is filed. An initial investigation involves gathering all relevant medical records, accident reports, and interviews with available witnesses. Preservation letters are drafted to notify the defendant of the case. The duty to preserve electronic evidence is critical in most cases to prevent spoliation.
Filing a Lawsuit in Cincinnati: If pre-suit negotiations are unsuccessful, then a lawsuit must be filed to preserve the statute of limitations. Filing a lawsuit early in the process is often necessary to begin gathering evidence while the witnesses memories are fresh and documents remain available.
Once suit is filed by your personal injury lawyer, the court will set a case management schedule and the parties will begin exchanging information in the formal process of discovery. Depositions will be taken to preserve testimony for trial and to understand what certain witnesses are likely to say at trial.
Proving Negligence, Causation and Damages: In addition to lay witness testimony and other documentary evidence, personal injury claims rely upon medical and scientific evidence to prove negligence, causation and damages. The chosen expert in a case must have a reliable and sound basis in science and in the facts of the case or his opinion may not be admissible under the rules of evidence.
In the areas of Toxic and Environmental Torts, the admission of expert testimony may be scrutinized harder than in other areas simply because the subject may not have been as widely tested and may rest on novel scientific theories.
Consumers can follow recall news or search for current and past recalls on the Web sites of the NHTSA, as well as on other car safety advocate outlets. Look on your car windshield for a 17-character Vehicle Identification Number. Your VIN is also located on your car’s registration card.
If your car has been recalled and you have suffered an injury, contact an auto defect attorney to investigate a potential claim
You may not be aware that your car is defective. It is not always obvious when your seat belt or other safety component fails to function as intended. It can take an expert in auto engineering to determine what contributed to an accident or injury.
You can contact The Lyon Firm, and we will work diligently to review your auto accident case. If an auto defect was in part responsible for an auto injury, a lawsuit can be filed and a large settlement is likely.
If negligent manufacturers and automakers are directly responsible for an auto-related injury, a product liability and personal injury lawsuit may be filed and compensation may be recovered for accident victims. Plaintiffs may seek compensation that may include property damages, past and future medical expenses, lost wages and future earnings, and pain and suffering.
The Lyon Firm takes pride in representing consumers to make America’s roads safer by holding negligent auto manufacturers accountable for auto defects that lead to accidents and injuries. When car makers fail to institute basic safety measures and fail to test auto components before releasing cars tot he public, they may be targeted in product liability lawsuits.
Auto defects have been known to cause accidents in tire failure, tread separation accidents, brake malfunction and sudden acceleration cases.
Auto defects may not cause every accident, but they can play an integral part in causing injury in the event of an accident. This is common in defective seat back collapse, seat belt defects and airbag defects. When these crucial safety features fail to function as they were intended.
Auto manufacturers and car makers can be held liable in auto defect lawsuits. Many automakers outsource some of their production and may not always be aware of some defects. Honda, for example, purchased all their defective airbags from Takata.
Some defective auto part suits name other defendants like negligent auto dealerships or auto repair shops who alter car parts or fail to properly repair automobiles and leave a serious safety risk.
The list of defective automobiles changes each year, and it is more likely that certain components are defective rather than an entire brand name. Nowadays many car makers use the same third-party suppliers, which compounds safety issues when a defective auto part is produced.
In recent years, the most common auto defects have been faulty airbags. Millions of cars were recalled for defective airbags. Other common auto defects are defective throttles, defective car software, and tire failures. Tire failure has been an issue in many car accidents and truck accidents.
A Cincinnati Auto Defect Lawyer can assist in not only reviewing your accident and injury case, but is able to hold large corporations accountable for the negligent actions in releasing unsafe products to the public.
Auto companies must be held liable in order to keep the roads safe in America. So not only can The Lyon Firm seek compensation for injured plaintiffs, but we can file lawsuits to punish car makers for failing to properly test their auto parts before they are sold to the public.
When car makers fail to produce reliable cars and fail to provide basic road safety features, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and product liability attorneys can hold them responsible and help mitigate injuries and future damages.
The majority of accidents and injuries on the road are preventable, but defective auto design and manufacturing defects may leave victims with huge medical costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, and, in many cases, permanent injuries.
The Lyon Firm aggressively, professionally, and passionately advocates for injured individuals and families against negligent individuals or companies to obtain just compensation under the law.
(Brown County, Kentucky): The Lyon Firm was second chair a case involving a driver texting and driving when he crossed the median, killing a father of four. The case was resolved once discovery confirmed the cell phone records proved the texting-related incident. The settlement will pay for the surviving childrens’ education. The driver was likely facing additional criminal charges at the time of the settlement.
(Cincinnati, Ohio): The Lyon Firm was lead counsel in a $495,000 settlement. This case involved a motorcycle operator who sustained fractures of the calcaneus, talus, medial cuneiform, tarsal bones, and tarsometatarsal when a car ignored its driving lane and crossed into his right-of-way. Settlement provided repayment of medical bills of $20,000 and funds for future education to re-enter the work force in a less physically-demanding job.
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