Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company may have known that its G159 tires were faulty according to a statement made by a Goodyear claims representative. That information is good news for consumers who may have been injured.

Good news for consumers

Goodyear has long been under fire about its G159 tires – especially when used on motor homes. Many consumers have blamed Goodyear for marketing these tires when it knew that they were defective. Numerous lawsuits have been filed against the company, but a recent surprising admission by a Goodyear claims representative may be very good news to consumers.

An unconventional admission

According to a recent article published by Bloomberg News, a Goodyear claims representative testified that Goodyear knew that their G159 tires were defective – and admitted such in a 2003 lawsuit against the company. After that admission, Goodyear settled the lawsuit confidentially. Later, that admission was revealed and Goodyear sought to keep it confidential by petitioning a federal court. However, the court thought that the admission was too important to keep under lock and key.

Goodyear denies that their G159 tires are defective and destroyed the original transcript containing the admission. However, that admission isn’t gone for good and attorneys representing victims of G159 tire failures say that Goodyear may be in big trouble.

Why the tire is defective

Rick Morrison, an Alabama attorney whose firm represents victims who have been injured due to G159 tire defects, told us that the tires were being sold to equip Class A recreational vehicles (motor homes) in 1995 and 1996. He explained, “

Shortly thereafter, they started having problems with the tire. They had problems of de-treads like we talked about earlier where the tire was failing. It was de-treading and once the tread failure occurred you were driving a vehicle that weighs 33,000 pounds at highway speeds. Sometimes, you don’t have the stability problems like an SUV, but once you have a de-tread, it’s going to become very difficult to control and often this has led to loss of control and unfortunately, a lot of serious injuries and death in too many instances.

If you’ve been injured due to defective Goodyear G159 tires, contact an attorney to discuss your situation. Consultations are free, without obligation and strictly confidential. To contact a qualified attorney whose practices focuses in this area of law, please click here.