Aged Cooper Tire detread/door latch failure during rollover of Ford Ranger Pickup, driver was ejected and killed
05/03/06 - Tarrant County, Texas
Settlement: Confidential
Case: Cause No. 342-212442-05; Frank A. Longoria, Individually and on Behalf of the Estate of Charlene Longoria, Deceased; Margarita Longoria, Beverly Longoria, and Franklyn Longoria, Individually; All Beneficiaries Entitled to Recover Under the Texas Wrongful Death Act for the Death of Charlene Longoria, Deceased vs. Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., A-Quality Wheels & Tires, Inc., Ford Motor Company, Texan Ford Sales, Inc., and Texan Ford Sales, Ltd.; In the 342nd Judicial District Court, Tarrant County, Texas
Plaintiff Attorneys:
David T. Bright, Watts Law Firm, LLP, Corpus Christi, TX
Mikal C. Watts, Watts Law Firm, LLP, Corpus Christi, TX
Howard Rosenstein, Attorney at Law, Arlington, Texas
Defense Attorneys:
Mr. Adolfo R. Rodriguez, Jr., Rodriguez Law Firm, P.C., Dallas, Texas
T. Christopher Trent, Johnson, Spalding, Doyle, West & Trent, LLP, Houston, Texas
Defect: Aged tires, defective door latch
Facts & Allegations:
The subject incident, which involves the tread separation of a Cooper “Avenger Radial” tire and subsequent rollover of a 2001 Ford Ranger Pickup, occurred on April 7, 2004, at approximately 10:30 a.m. on State Highway 360 in Grapevine, Tarrant County, Texas. The decedent, Charlene Longoria, was the driver and only occupant of the 2001 Ford Ranger Pickup at the time of the incident in question. Ms. Longoria was traveling southbound in the left hand lane of the 5200 block of State Highway 360, when her tire detreaded, causing her to hit the left curb. Ms. Longoria’s vehicle then went out of control, and her vehicle traveled across the right lane and right shoulder before colliding with the guard fence, thereby causing the vehicle to roll over. The door latch on the driver’s door failed, and Ms. Longoria was ejected from the vehicle and killed.
Interestingly, the tire that detreaded was purchased by the Plaintiffs at a used tire store (A-Quality Tires), and it was in “like new” condition. It still had the “tits” on it. It had never been used. The tire was ten years old. The manufacture date is October, 1993 and it was sold to the Plaintiffs in October of 2003. Only six months after that sale to the Plaintiffs, on April 7, 2004, it suffered an obvious tread separation. Thus, this case involves the issue of aged tires as well as the failure of the Ford door latch. In that regard, Ford has recently made very public statements that no tire older than six years should be mounted on a Ford vehicle. Ford has put this warning in its 2006 Owner’s Manuals. However, no such warning was contained in the owner’s manual of this 2001 Ford Ranger pickup.
This incident is not the first occurrence of door latch failures on Ford Ranger pickups. There has been a lengthy and well-developed history of litigation regarding the failure of these door latches in collisions and rollovers. While Ms. Longoria was not belted at the time of this incident, had her door latch not failed shoe would have remained in the passenger compartment of her vehicle and, based upon the ample survival space in the cab, would have survived the rollover.
Injuries/Damages: Death
Mrs. Longoria was survived by her husband and three adult children. They sought to recover for loss of care, maintenance, services, support, advice, counsel, pecuniary contributions, love, comfort, companionship and society which they would have received from their her husband and mother had she lived, as well as their mental anguish and other damages.
Result: The parties settled for a confidential amount.