Court documents recently made public reveal the Goodyear G159 RV tire to be “the worst tire made in history.” This is not hyperbole, as a shocking article from Jalopnik disclosed that the tire was linked to hundreds of vehicle crashes and several fatalities. New evidence disclosed in an Arizona court on April 4, 2018 revealed that the product is tied to more than 700 complaints.

The issue at a glance

Jalopnik’s investigation of the court documents showed that the tires failed at a rate of 10 to 27 times higher than the Firestone tire scandal twenty years earlier. Statements made by Goodyear’s own employees revealed that they couldn’t identify any other Goodyear tire with the same rate of failure as the G159. In many cases, the company blamed user error, tire under-inflation, overloaded RVs, or road debris as the cause of the tire blowouts that led to the crashes causing injuries and deaths.

What’s most striking about this case is that the safety issue with the tires stayed out of the public eye for more than 10 years, even with hundreds of complaints and claims made against Goodyear. Because of Goodyear’s legal tactics and confidential settlements, they have managed to keep the issue out of the news almost entirely.

Until now.

After the G159 tire had been named in more than 40 lawsuits, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation. The documents were finally unsealed after Arizona judge John Hannah ruled that the potential risk to public health was more important than confidentiality. Jalopnik published those documents under the threat of legal action from Goodyear, but Judge Hannah ruled that it was legal for Jalopnik to go ahead.

Goodyear’s cover-up of their defective tires

Court documents dated from 1996 to 2015 show a pattern of safety issues with the G159 tire, as well as efforts to cover up those issues. Lawsuits against the company also allege that Goodyear was aware that their silence would result in more injuries and fatalities. And, 20 years later, after underreporting claims of injury and continuing to sell the defective product, the tire is still on the road and may still be causing car accidents.

Lawsuits allege that the tires were originally designed for delivery trucks that don’t travel at highway speeds. Yet the tires were sold on recreational vehicles that regularly travel on the highway. Court documents show the company didn’t conduct high-speed tests on the tires until after sales began and, on the first two tests, the tires failed and blew out at 75mph. Instead of releasing those results, Goodyear blamed them on user error.

Goodyear wrote, “Tire blowouts can be related to a number of facts, however the key ones being overload, under-inflation, vehicle speeds and road hazards.” Jalopnik pointed out it appeared Goodyear was suggesting that over 700 claims of blowouts and injury were due to user error.

Court documents also showed that the tire failed in 17 brands of motorhomes across 39 separate models, and nearly all failures happened at highway speed. The NHTSA started receiving reports more than 15 years ago, but that data was sealed due to confidentiality agreements.

Settling claims behind closed doors or hiding data inside confidentiality agreements puts you and other consumers at risk. Up until now, Goodyear has been able to bury their safety hazards with this particular tire. But now the NHTSA has opened an investigation and the public is aware of the G159’s history of blowouts.

Do you or someone you love drive an RV? Check your tires carefully. And if you’ve been injured as a result of a tire blowout with G159s, whether on your vehicle or someone else’s, call the Knoxville car accident attorneys at Banks and Jones. We’re ready to help. Give us a call at 865-546-2141. You can also make an appointment by completing our contact form. We are dedicated to Fighting 2 Win for you!