By TIMOTHY AEPPEL
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Relatives of a Texas couple killed in an accident that occurred after the
tread came off the left rear tire on their Ford Explorer have settled a
lawsuit against Bridgestone/Firestone Inc.
The case was the first of its kind set for trial
since Firestone, the U.S. unit of Japan's
Bridgestone Corp., announced a recall of 6.5
million tires in August. The tires, mounted
mostly on Ford Motor Co.'s Explorer
sport-utility vehicle, allegedly have been linked with at least 160 deaths
world-wide. With the wave of negative publicity over the recall, Firestone
appears to be under pressure to settle such suits.
"The timing certainly helped a lot," says Robert J. Patterson, the
attorney representing children of the couple killed in the accident.
"[Firestone] is doing jury studies, and if their studies are showing what
ours are, they don't have a chance."
The company declined to comment on the substance of the case or the
terms of the settlement. "The parties have reached an agreement in
principle on the settlement of this case," a spokeswoman said.
Mr. Patterson said the two sides reached a verbal agreement Friday, but
that the settlement requires that the terms remain confidential. "They're
supposed to have funds here within 10 days," he said, adding that he
expects a formal agreement to be signed before that.
The accident that led to the case occurred May 30, 1999, in Cameron
County, Texas, near Brownsville. As Patricio and Nidia Leal were passing
another vehicle on a two-lane highway, the tread separated from the
left rear Firestone ATX tire on their Explorer. The tire was later identified
as one of those made at Firestone's Decatur, Ill., plant. Tires made
there are among those subject to the recall.
The Leal's Explorer swerved several times before it hit a concrete utility
pole. Mr. Patterson says the accident didn't involve a rollover, "though
there was a loss of control that you could attribute to the combination
of the tire detreading and the short wheel base [of the Explorer]." Many
people who have had accidents as a result of tire separations on
Explorers have sued both Firestone and the auto maker, contending
that the tire and the vehicle share blame arising from such accidents.
Ford has sought to focus blame on the tires alone, while Firestone has
suggested the vehicle itself may be partly to blame.
Mr. Patterson represented Mrs. Leal's two children from a previous
marriage in the wrongful-death case, while Mr. Leal's children from a
previous marriage were represented by another attorney, Anthony
Constant. Mr. Patterson says the portion of the case arising from the
death of Mr. Leal, the driver, was settled with Firestone last month.
Terms of that settlement also were sealed. The latest settlement
involves the claim for Mrs. Leal, who was a passenger. The case was
filed in state district court in Rio Grande City, Texas, and was set to
begin trial on Nov. 13.
Mr. Patterson is pushing to make public the documents gathered in
preparation for the case, including 26 boxes of Firestone consumer
complaints. He is allowed to share the documents with other lawyers
pursuing cases against Firestone, but isn't allowed to disseminate them
more widely.
Bridgestone's President Yoichiro Kaizaki said Monday his group will finish
the recall of the 6.5 million tires by the end of November, but that the
company's investigation has yet to show who is to blame for accidents
allegedly linked to the tires. The tire maker has already replaced or paid
for exchanges of 4.2 million tires.
Write to Timothy Aeppel at timothy.aeppel@wsj.com