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RECENT CASES |
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GENERAL INFORMATION |
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Tire Defects and
Legal Assistance |
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| Tread failure can
begin with small cracks on the serial number
side of a tire attributable to design and manufacturing
defects. These cracks, which are virtually invisible
to the naked eye, give way to larger cracks that
develop between the belts, causing premature
tire fatigue and tread failure. |
| Ordinarily, the fatigue
life of a tire should exceed its tread life
by a substantial margin. However, manufacturing
and design defects cause shorter fatigue life
and can lead to catastrophic accidents, injuries
and death long before a tire’s tread is
worn out and long before a tire’s useful
life should be over. |
| Tire tread separations,
whether or not accompanied by a loss of air
from the tire, drastically reduce the ability
of a driver to control a vehicle. This is particularly
true when the failure occurs on a rear wheel
and at a high rate of speed. |
| When the tread and
belt separate from the body of a tire, the
driver often hears a loud thumping noise before
the vehicle goes out of control. The events
following a tire failure occur so rapidly and
unexpectedly that it is virtually impossible
for even the best drivers to avoid accidents
in high-speed situations. |
| Even without any defect
limiting service life, tires, like all rubber
products, degrade over time. The tire's internal
structure degrades, reducing adhesion between
the belts, which in turn facilitates tread
separation. This internal degradation occurs
regardless of tread use and wear. |
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Lieff Cabraser Heimann
& Bernstein, LLP represents
persons injured in vehicle
accidents. Click
here to submit your
case. |
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| Lieff
Cabraser has participated in over thirty-five $100
million-plus settlements & verdicts since 1992.
To read a summary,
click
here. |
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| Dec. 29, 2006, "Judge
OKs $14.5M Settlement in Class Action Over Bad Jeep Brakes." Learn
more... |
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| Tire manufacturers
have long known that tires more than six years
old, regardless of tread depth, pose a substantial
safety hazard to consumers. Tire age degradation
has been an "open secret" within the
industry, but the public has only recently started
to take notice as the number of crashes caused
by "aged" tires has grown. |
| In 2002, the U.S.
Department of Transportation National Highway
Safety Administration ("NHTSA") proposed
a tire-aging test that tire manufacturers would
be required to perform on their products. The
proposal recognized auto-safety advocates'
long-held concern that government test requirements
ensured only short-term durability and did
not protect against catastrophic tire failures
from long-term chemical degradation. |
| Overwhelming industry
opposition and the industry's lack of consensus
on an aging standard led NHTSA to shelve the
proposed rule-making until it completed research
on potential test protocols. |
| Firestone’s tires
were found to have inferior belt wedge thickness,
poor shoulder design and inadequate belt adhesion
levels. Further analysis by outside experts
found that the rubber used to manufacture the
tires may have been contaminated and/or substandard. |
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Our lawyers
have years of experience successfully representing clients
in personal injury cases. |
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There
is no charge or obligation for our review of your case. |
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In death
and serious injury cases, we are pleased to visit you where
you live, at no cost, to discuss your legal rights and answer
your questions. |
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We have
retained product safety and medical experts nationwide to
assist our clients with their claims. |
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| Persons who have been
injured in accidents involving defective tires,
or family members of loved ones who have died in
such accidents who would like to learn more about
their legal rights, are welcome to contact
a tire failure attorney / lawyer at Lieff Cabraser
by clicking
here. There is no charge or obligation
for our review of your case. |
| Alternatively,
you may call Lieff Cabraser toll-free at 1-800-541-7358
and ask to speak to partner Fabrice Vincent. |
| Founded in 1972, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP is an over fifty attorney
law firm with offices in San Francisco, New York and Nashville. For the last seven years,
the National Law Journal has recognized Lieff Cabraser
as one of the top 20 plaintiff law firms in America. |
| For our personal injury cases, we bring a team of experienced
lawyers. Each client is assigned an individual lawyer. In addition, we have
on staff multiple nurses, legal assistants, scientific analysts and case
clerks to assist the attorneys. To learn more about our firm, click
here. |
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| Trademark
Notice: Personal Injury Lawyer America is an electronic newsletter
from Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP. Lieff Cabraser
represents clients in a wide range of cases, including personal
injury and wrongful
death lawsuits. Our personal injury attorneys
| lawyers are committed to providing the very best representation
and support possible for our clients. |
Lieff Cabraser
is not affiliated in any way with any trademark owner. The use of
any trademarks on this site is for product identification and information
purposes only.
About Lieff Cabraser: We have
offices in San Francisco, New York and Nashville. Our lawyers have
represented clients in personal injury, wrongful death and
rollover crashes and product defect lawsuits across America.
Disclaimer: The hiring of legal
professionals is an important decision that should not be based on
advertising alone. Please read our disclaimer. |
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| Copyright © 2010 Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP |
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