Get a Board-Certified Personal Injury Trial Attorney on your Tire Failure Accident Case
Everyday, motorists are faced with life and death situations due to tire defects that cause sudden tire failure, tire tread separation, sidewall failure, and tire blowouts. Sadly, many of these tire failures result in serious accidents, rollovers, and crashes lead to serious injuries and death due to secondary crash related seatbelt failures, defective airbags, seatbelt buckle failures, roof crush, and roof pillar collapse. According to the Department of Transportation, 9% of automobile accidents involve some level of tire failures, whether a defective tire, tread separation, or tire blowout, in the pre-crash phase.
Dangerous rollovers, tire tread separations, and blowouts are some of the most common causes of hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands of critical and life-changing injuries annually. When the driver of any vehicle (SUV, truck, or a passenger car) encounters a sudden tire failure or tire deflation at highway speeds, split-second decisions can mean the difference between life and death.
Often the cause of many rollovers and accidents is not driver error. Sometimes the investigating officer will even cite and ticket the driver for failure to maintain or inspect the tire when the underlying reason may be a tire defect, which causes a tire failure causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle and the accident or rollover occurs. If you, or a loved one, was involved in a serious accident resulting in injuries you believe may have been caused by a tire blowout, tire failure, or by any part of the vehicle, then contact our product liability lawyers to discuss your legal options and rights in a tire defect lawsuit or product liability lawsuit against the SUV, truck, van, or passenger car manufacturer.
The nationally recognized Houston Tire Defect Attorney, David P. Willis and other attorneys at the Willis Law Firm are ready to assist you in your lawsuit. principal office in Houston, Texas, The Willis Law Firm has settled $100,000,000’s of tire defect and tire detread separations accident cases, SUV & truck rollovers, automobile defects, air bag failures, and defects and 1000’s of other serious injury, and wrongful death lawsuits over the past 37+ years against some of the biggest tire manufacturers, auto, and truck makers, and other negligent product manufacturers, and defendants in the world.
Attorney David P. Willis is a former attorney for the Supreme Court of Texas (1983-1984) and has been Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Lawyer by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1988. In many cases, David P. Willis will assemble a team of other litigation attorneys, lawyers, and Board-Certified Trial Lawyers to assist at handling all phases of your case at no extra charge to you. All cases are handled on a contingency fee basis, which means No Fees or Expenses are Ever Charged to the Client Unless the Client Wins.
Even New Tires Can Fail and Cause Accidents
Why do tires fail or blowout? Often tire failures and blowouts are caused from defectively designed and negligently manufactured tires. The tire defects may be caused by dirty factory conditions, incorrect curing temperatures, incorrect tire bead, and sidewall construction, inferior tire materials, and adhesives, negligent testing, and sizing of important tire components. A tire blowout can also result from underinflated tires, road hazards, worn out tires, mismatched tires, or wrong-sized tires for the rim. When a sudden tire failure event occurs, a rollover, or accident may follow. When this happens other injury causing components (seatbelts, frontal, or side impact airbags, roof strength, and door locks) of the vehicle may also fail to keep the occupants safe. Talk to an auto and tire defect attorney now to get answers to your questions.
Often brand new tires sit on a shelf or in a warehouse for many years before they are ever sold. While these tires look brand new to the consumer, they are often months or even years old. All tires slowly age and their internal components start to disintegrate and fail. A “new” tire that hasn’t been used in years, but is then sold as new can be dangerous because the tire’s rubber and adhesives become weaker over time and increase the risk of a tire failure, or tread separation, and a sudden blow out, especially at highway speeds. Likewise, any used old tire, even though it has plenty of tread showing, can be very dangerous as the buyer doesn’t know the history of that tire. Used tires could have been stored in hot warehouses, been involved in a previous accident, been severely overloaded, hit numerous potholes, or curbs, or suffered prior damage unseen by the naked eye.
Used tires, although cheaper, may also increase the risk of accident. Lack of sufficient tread can cause drivers to lose traction in wet weather or be unable to stop in time. Car dealers, used tire shops, inspection stations, and repair shops have a duty to inspect tires and recommend that old tires be replaced. If replacing is not an option, manufacturers recommend that the best tires (those with the most tread and traction) be placed in the rear of the vehicle. If they fail to recommend rotating the best tires to the rear or purchasing a new tire, they may be held liable. Most manufacturers recommend that tires be replaced after 6 years, no matter what remaining tread life is available.
Featured Tire Failure Litigation
Cooper Tire Failure & Recalls
Cooper tire tread separations and defects happen daily. In multiple Cooper tire plants contaminants including small pieces of wood and other debris have been found inside the tire’s tread leading to premature failure and separation of the tread at highway speeds often leading to rear tire blowouts / failures causing many drivers to lose control and even rolling over.
Firestone & Bridgestone Tire Defects
Firestone tire recall along with the Ford Explorer SUV was the subject of congressional investigations due to the high numbers of Firestone tire tread separations on the Explorers resulting in the deaths of scores of Americans on US highways. In 2001, attorney David Willis was presented a National Service Award for his help that lead to the recalls of millions of defective Firestone tires.
Tire Recalls Due to Manufacturing Defects
Many tire tread separations and failures subject to recalls by NHTSA are often the result of bad tire design, excessive moisture or contamination at the tire plant, improper adhesive curing, lack of proper inspection, and poor quality control, selling tires as new that have been stored in warehouses for years, negligent design of the sidewall, and tire bead design, and failure to properly test tires to withstand the stated weight or load ratings that tires face on hot temperature found on roads, and highways across the United States, especially during summer months.
Tire Detread Separation Rollover Accidents
When a driver suddenly is confronted by a tire failure or detreading / separation, often the driver is helpless to be able to bring the vehicle under control. This is especially true when it is a SUV or truck with higher center of gravity or fully loaded. As the driver attempts to steer the vehicle, it can turn sideways perpendicular to the direction of travel and the tires can de-bead from the rims As they dig into the pavement and cause a trip induced rollover. When the vehicle flips over, the seatbelts, airbags, door locks, and roof pillars often fail, causing even more injuries form roof crush, and ejections..
Tire Defects and Dangers
Besides tires detreading and causing accidents, many others are killed when the sidewalls fails, tire beads rupture, and even when a tire being fixed or inflated explodes. Often the innocent tire worker is blamed for over filling or over pressurizing the tire, when in fact other factors such as defective bead or side wall. In all cases, it is important that the evidence is preserved. The tire, any tire pieces, tire tools, or equipment used at the time of the explosion, or accident must be preserved, photographed, and inspected by tire experts. Call us we know what to do.
Map of Former Willis Law Firm Clients over last 37+ years
Why Hire Us?
If you have been seriously injured or a loved one has been killed due to a defective tire or blowout causing a rollover or accident, then talk to a Tire Failure Attorney with over 37 years of tire defect and accident experience. Get answers to your questions and find out your legal options.
- Our law firm handles tire defect, rollover, and product liability cases that involve serious injuries or a wrongful death, and we front all expenses,
- We never send the client a bill. No fees or expenses are charged unless we get our client a recovery,
- In most cases before we file a lawsuit, we send an accident scene investigator to gather information, interview witnesses, photograph the scene, and collect evidence,
- We find, collect, and preserve the evidence. We will track down the tire and vehicle and get the parts identified and secured in a safe locked facility to prevent the loss or accidental destruction of such evidence,
- We hire top vehicle crashworthiness and tire experts. Our engineers inspect the tires, seat belts, roof system, door locks, airbags, and other safety equipment that may have failed and caused some or all of your injuries,
- After the accident scene, tire engineering reports and medical evidence are prepared and examined. We fully prepare your case for successful litigation.
Talk to a Tire Lawyer Now – Free Case Review
If you or a loved one has been involved in a serious accident or rollover and you believe one of the tires or the vehicle was defective, then you may have a lawsuit against the tire manufacturer, used tire dealer, or other negligent defendants. Call for a free confidential case review. Talk to a Board-Certified Personal Injury Trial Lawyer with 37+ years of tire defect litigation and rollover accident experience.
No Fees or Expenses Ever Charged Unless a Recovery is Made for You.