Dallas Defective Tire Lawyer

Did a Defective Tire Cause Your Injury Accident? Grossman Law Offices Can Help

In the legal world, accidents caused by defective tires are different from other traffic accidents due to the difficulty of proving the manufacture of tires or the installation of the tires was negligent. Catastrophic tire failure can lead to severe injuries and more serious accidents like rollovers.

You will find in Dallas defective tire lawyer Michael Grossman someone who is experienced in handling cases where you have to use the evidence of a defective tire to draw a connection between a tire manufacturer or installer and a rollover wreck caused by a tire defect. Here he will explain what is involved in making that kind of case for a jury or in soliciting a fair settlement.

You should be aware that accidents caused by defective tires often involve radically different levels of damages. It can also be difficult to show that faulty manufacturing and installation were the reason the tire failed. Without adequate representation in this area and the knowledge of the subtle differences in how they should be handled, you have little chance to make your points and win compensation.

What Is The Reason for the Difference?

The main difference is that the number of defendants or parties tends to be higher than in a normal collision, for example, between two cars. When the accident was caused by a defect in the tires, the tire manufacturer is likely to have some responsibility, but it is possible that there are other factors involved. We will try to find out:

• Was the tire correctly installed and tested?
• Was it well maintained and stored before installation?
• Was it the right one recommended for the vehicle?
• Did the automaker really choose the right tire?

One or more of the companies who have had contact with the design, selection, installation, or manufacture of a defective tire that caused the accident may have a responsibility. In addition, there are several factors that could fail and we have to show where the automaker was responsible. These factors may include the suspension design on a vehicle, failure of a tire, if there was proper risk assessment, and so on.

Tires Are High Tech Pieces of Equipment

Contrary to popular belief, the modern car tire is one of the most complex and most tested materials in a modern car. Even if you think it's just a ring of rubber, it is actually a very complex entity that contains multiple layers of different materials exposed to heat treatment methods and other technological tests and improvement processes that (one hopes) are performed properly. In addition, the multilayered chemistry and molecular structure of manufactured modern tires are at least as complex as the computer in the dashboard, so this is no simple piece of rubber.

Some people call the tire of the fifth spring because it manifests a natural tendency to absorb and release the car’s kinetic energy. Without going into too many technical aspects, it is important to know because, unlike the metal leaf or coil springs serving the suspension, the tire is not a steady source of support. Depending on the condition of the tire, it can act as a "good source" by increasing the rollover resistance of a machine or it can act like a "bad spring" in that it could significantly affect how the car reacts and changes direction in motion.

In addition, the weight of the vehicle's tire on a flat area where it hits the road is a factor. This site is flat at the bottom of the platform deck and is known as the "contact surface” of the tire. As wear and tear distorts the edges of the tire, the tires can become worn by the flat surface of the road where the tire touches the ground. Also, the energy released as heat in the tire further affects tire performance and its integrity. The combined production of heat with the tire due to compression under load, and the friction and wear and finally the absorption of ambient heat from the air, all this combines to impact your tires.

When you consider what a tire experiences day by day - all the forces and friction, and how the tire is actually the only part of the car hits the road in a contact area the size of a mere man’s shoe - you may begin to appreciate how the tire is crucial for the proper functioning of cars. It is therefore a task for the manufacturer of your vehicle and tire manufacturers to conduct extensive research to determine the best tires for a chosen model, and often the worst accidents are caused by simply choosing a tire that is not right for a car.

Drawing a Connection Between the Manufacturer and the Accident

You need solid evidence gathered and deep research very well done if you want to sue because of a manufacturing defect or faulty installation. We review all the facts to ensure that all responsible parties can be properly identified so that they can be held responsible in court for their role in causing a defective tire accident. We will seek to find all the relevant facts to show the relationship between the defect and the accident you suffered. The investigation of the scene and the investigation of the tire defect are critical.

It is important to act quickly to investigate a defective tire incident. Our Dallas defective tire lawyers at Grossman Law Offices know the proper way to gather evidence, take pictures of the scene, examine the tires and the crash, and classify all the appropriate materials to make a good case. If you want to request compensation for injuries you have suffered due to a tire defect rollover wreck in DFW, consider seeking legal action through a Dallas personal injury lawsuit.

What Damages Are Available?

Damages are the financial losses you’ve experienced as a result of an injury. Texas has two separate damages for personal injury cases known as general and special damages. General damages are those that are not necessarily tangible, but often have a subjective value. Examples of general damages are:

• Disfigurement
• Pain and suffering
• Damage to reputation
• Loss of consortium
• Psychological stress and pain
• Mental anguish

These damages are different for each plaintiff depending on their particular situation. Imagine that a tire blow ups in a car accident and two passengers suffer injury. Pain, suffering and medical expenses can be the same, but some of these damages may be different. For example, a young girl burned in the wreck will have more anguish over her disfigurement than a fireman near retirement who gets the same burn scars.

Special damages are injuries with known economic values, and they include a wide range of injuries that are explicitly measurable. Examples of special damages are:

• Lost wages
• Hospital bills
• Property damage and repair costs
• Court costs
• The loss of working capacity

An example of special damages could be a grocery manager who makes $50,000 and is just 10 years from retirement. The accident renders him unable to return to work. He could sue for the lost wages – $500,000 for lost income alone, not to mention other special damages such as medical expenses. However, an experienced Dallas defective tire lawyer can work to ensure that damages for loss of future earnings is calculated to also include likely raises, bonuses, or promotions so that an injured worker receives full and fair compensation for their incurred damages. One of the characteristics of a truly experienced Dallas defective tire lawyer is the ability to correctly identify and account for all damages that a victim is entitled to under the law. Our Dallas defective tire attorneys carefully evaluate each case to maximize the value of possible compensation.

You can sue for special and general damages and they are not mutually exclusive claims. In addition, you can still pursue other parties for such damages on the basis of their share of responsibility.

Wrongful Death Damages

Prosecution for wrongful death has two main objectives: to provide appropriate compensation for families of those who lost loved ones and to prevent future incidents where a tire manufacturer or installer is negligent. It's a way to hold them accountable when criminal charges may not have been brought against a liable party.

Surviving family members are entitled to compensation when their loved one has been killed due to the negligence of another party. From a legal standpoint, the money is supposed to cover damages that the family has incurred due to their loss (non-pecuniary damages such as pain and suffering, loss of consortium), and the monetary value of certain economic damages (loss of revenue for loved one, medical bills, etc).

Only spouses, children, parents and (sometimes, depending on the circumstances) the siblings of a lost loved one are entitled to compensation for the wrongful death of a loved one in a car accident caused by a defective tire. This death benefit may include:

• Medical expenses of the victim before death.
• Compensation for psychological and emotional pain.
• The loss of monetary support in the future present of the deceased would be given.
• Funeral expenses.

Survival damages are damages likely incurred by the decedent if they had lived instead of died in an accident. These are available to spouses, children, parents and (in special cases) brothers and sisters. The types are:

• Property damage
• The loss of working capacity
• Lost wages
• Hospital and medical expenses
• Mental or emotional stress

Going To Court

It may be obvious that the tire manufacturing defects or installation caused the accident, but such negligence must still be proven in court. We must prove the four elements that constitute the legal basis for a claim of liability: duty, dereliction of duty, causation and damages.

Manufacturers and installers have the responsibility of knowing everything related to tires and how they work. They know how important all this is to the safe operation of your car. It is their responsibility to use all data and research to ensure their tires are safe for public use, and that they do not cut corners or make careless decisions. This is the essence of what we call their "duty of care." It is their responsibility to comply with a standard of conduct that prevents others from exposure to unreasonable risks.

The next part of the violation of a duty of care is when you meet a reasonable standard for action (or inaction) that could cause injury to another person. The breach of that obligation, for example, could be the use of defective materials in creating a tire, using poorly trained workers to install tires, or a maintenance company failing to properly inspect a tire.

To make the connection between all the factors and your accident is the step we call causation. Causation demonstrates that the defendant's negligence was the cause of the injury. If you have no proof that the defendant caused the injury by their breach of duty, then no matter how obvious it is to you, you will not win the case against a liable tire manufacturer.

To prove up damages means that you must substantiate your claim to compensation. You must prove that you have suffered injury as a result of another party’s negligence and that you have incurred financial loss as a result. This requires a careful and deliberate effort to calculate the total fair amount of losses and determine the reasons to support such a claim. The judge and jury want you and your attorney to prove the allegations in court to support these calculations of damages. The judge and jury need concrete evidence and convincing arguments in support of the request for damages. You may be entitled to compensation for damages such as pain and suffering, medical expenses, loss of earning capacity, miscellaneous repairs, lost wages and other losses you may have suffered as a result of the accident - but you have to convince a jury why.

As you can see, being in an accident caused by these kinds of defective tires can make for a complex case and a large amount of work. They often involve multiple defendants, large damages, companies with deep pockets who do not want to part with that money, and a long chain of causation from negligence to defective tire to accident. For 20 years, Dallas defective tire lawyer Michael Grossman has aided the victims of these oftentimes preventable accidents. If you or a loved one has suffered from a defective tire accident, call us toll free 1-855-326-0000 today for a free consultation.