Jury awards $5.6 million damages against Goodyear

ERJ staff report (DS)

New Port Richet, Florida -- A Pasco County Circuit Court jury has returned a $5.6 million verdict against the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company for selling a defective tyre that had been marketed to recreational motor home manufacturers, even though the tyre was not suitable for RV use.

The tyre, a Goodyear G159, was original equipment on a 2000 American Tradition motor home that crashed on August 11, 2004, seriously injuring the driver and two passengers.

Attorneys Christopher Roberts and Hugh Smith, of Smith, Fuller & Roberts, a Tampa Bay firm specialising in tyre litigation, presented evidence that Goodyear had marketed the G159 to the RV industry for nearly a decade in the 1990s and 2000s, even though Goodyear knew it was dangerous for those vehicles. The G159 was originally designed for urban delivery vehicles and speed-rated for only 65 mile per hour continuous use.

Circuit Court Judge Stanley Mills has given Goodyear 45 days to present arguments for sealing the confidential Goodyear materials shown to the jury. Continued confidentiality is unlikely under the Florida Sunshine in Litigation Act, which prohibits a court from sealing corporate documents that would conceal a public hazard.

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Press release from Attorneys, Smith, Fuller & Roberts, P.A.

$5.6 M tyre lawsuit a renewed warning to RVers RV News service (US - Florida)