Houston Defective Tire Lawyer

Were You Injured in an Accident Caused by a Defective or Faulty Tire? Houston Attorney Michael Grossman Can Help

In the legal world, accidents that are caused by defective tires differ from other auto accidents based on a number of factors, including the challenge sometimes involved in proving the tire or its installation was defective.

Furthermore, catastrophic blowouts often result in rollovers and severe car crashes. Finding an attorney with experience in dealing with proving cases involving a defective tire can be challenging. Houston defective tire attorney Michael Grossman of Grossman Law Offices can help you if you’re in need of such legal assistance.

Defective tire accidents are often radically different in the extent of damage and injuries that can occur and in proving the manufacturer may have been at fault. Without adequate representation, these cases also involve some subtle differences in the way a case can be pursued that less experienced attorneys won’t understand.

Why Are These Cases So Different?

The main difference is that the number of liable parties is usually higher than a conventional accident. In cases where the accident is due to a defect, the tire manufacturer will probably have some responsibility, but it is possible that the inability to properly perform as a good tire was caused by a number of additional factors, such as:

• How the tire was installed and equipped.
• If the tire was maintained and stored properly before installation.
• If the tire has been recommended for the vehicle it was put on.

Consequently, one or more of the companies that have had contact with the design, selection, installation, or manufacture of a faulty tire may have certain responsibilities as well. In addition, several factors related to the rest of the vehicle can make the vehicle manufacturer responsible for a rollover wreck. These include the design of the vehicle’s suspension, the crash safety of the vehicle in a tire failure accident, the status of the safety functions in case of crash, and other factors.

The Manufacture, Selection, and Installation of Tires Is Critical For Safety

Contrary to popular belief, the modern automobile tire is one of the most complicated and engineered system on a modern car. Although the rubber tire may seem like just a piece of radial rubber, it is actually a very complicated entity that contains multiple layers of different materials that are exposed to high heat treatment processes and other engineering cycles. In addition to their multilayered chemical composition and enhanced molecular structure, there is more going on within your tires than you might think.

Some people call the tire the fifth spring because it has that natural tendency to absorb and release energy like your car’s suspension. Without going too much into the technical aspects, this is critical to know about because, unlike the metal leaf or coil springs which serve the suspension, the tire does not possess a fixed spring constant. Depending on the condition of the tire, it can act as a "good spring,” adding to the car's reluctance to roll (or yaw, which is lean in a corner or lane change), or "bad spring," which could have an impact significantly on how the car handles, leading the car to roll over.

In addition, the weight of the vehicle presses the tire in a flat area where it meets the floor. This site is flat at the bottom of the platform and it is known as the contact patch. As the edges deform on your tire, so the tire surface is crushed down by a rounded surface on the flat surface where the tire touches the ground. In this way, energy is released as heat in the tire. Think, if you will, of how a paper clip gets hot when you bend it backwards and forwards. The combined production of heat with the heat generated in your tires due to compression of the air under a load, the friction between tire and road, and the absorption of ambient heat from the air has a drastic change on your tires’ integrity.

When you think about all that your tires experience, and that the only part of the auto that touches the road is roughly the size of a shoe, you can begin to appreciate how the tire is of vital importance in terms of the car’s operation. That is why it is the job of your vehicle manufacturer to carry out extensive research to determine the best tire for a chosen model, and often the worst accidents are due the manufacturer simply choosing the wrong tire for a specific car.

Proving the Connection Between a Negligent Maker or Installer of a Tire Is Challenging

You need evidence collected and the task done right if you want to prove the tire failed because of a faulty manufacturer or a faulty installation. Our examination of all the facts will be complete to ensure that all those responsible can be properly identified so that they can be accountable for their role in causing your defective tire auto accident. We seek and find everything relevant to prove the connection between the defect and the accident itself in order to ensure that compensation is commensurate with your damages. Processing the scene of the accident and properly researching the tire defect ensures that all relevant evidence is amassed that can be put to use in creating a strong case on your behalf.

It is essential to act quickly to investigate your claim. Roadways are busy places, and as time passes after an accident, evidence is likely to disappear. In some cases, manufacturers have taken deliberate steps to cover their tracks after an accident when they suspect their tire was to blame. The best proof usually means the strongest of cases and the best results in court. When you have one of our Houston tire defect lawyers on your side, we will investigate the site as soon as possible to collect evidence about the cause of the blow out.

Houston defective tire attorney Michael Grossman of Grossman Law Offices knows the proper way to collect the evidence, take photographs, examine the tires and the accident scene, and then classify all the evidence in the case. If you want to win the case and obtain compensation for the losses you suffered, you want us to get the proof on site. We are qualified to get what you need to win a jury trial. There is no charge for customers out of pocket for doing all this. We exist to represent your interests.

What Damages Can You Seek For Compensation?

The likely value of a Texas personal injury case or action is ultimately predicated on the amount of damages that you have suffered. Legally, the "damage" means the money requested or mandated be paid to a person as compensation for damage. The State of Texas recognizes two separate personal injury damages in a case: general and special damages.

General damages are those that do not have a tangible value associated with them. General damages are much more subjective and varies from one situation to the way they are quantified. Examples of general damages are:

• Pain
• Suffering
• Damage to reputation
• Disfigurement
• Loss of Consortium
• Emotional pain
• Mental anguish
• Physical disabilities
• Inconvenience

As an illustration of the subjectivity of general damages, imagine that an accident occurred because of catastrophic tire failure. In this crash, there were two victims, both of whom were badly burned in the fire that followed. The first plaintiff was knocked unconscious by the explosion. Although badly burned, he was not awake and alert so as not to experience any pain. However, the second victim is also severely burned, but was alert and had to endure the terrible pain related to the burn. Although these two victims may find themselves with similar medical bills and so on, they each had pain and suffering in different amounts, and so the damages they deserve need to be different.

In addition, general damages are subjective in the sense that what everyone experiences is suffered differently for the injury they endure. For example, a 23-year-old TV reporter with a small but prominent scar on his face after an injury may be significantly affected by the disfigurement, whereas a 50-year-old oil rig worker may not be suffering so much due to a facial scar. The TV reporter’s future ability to work in TV may be significantly damaged by a facial scar. The oil rig worker will likely be able to continue his work regardless of a facial scar. While this may seem like a strange example, these are the types of issues that can be up for debate in terms of general damages in Houston personal injury accident cases. By utilizing an inexperienced attorney who may not understand how an injury may significantly affect your future, you may be putting yourself at risk for not being able to obtain fair compensation for the total amount of your incurred damages.

Special damages, meanwhile, are also known as economic damages, and they encompass a variety of damages that are of an explicitly measurable quantity in terms of money. Examples of special damages are:

• Loss of Wages
• Medical bills, past and future
• Legal costs
• Loss of earning capacity
• Property damage

For an example of special damages, imagine a plaintiff who worked as a policeman who makes $60,000, but lost his ability to work after an accident caused by a defective tire crash. He loses one of his legs. Naturally, he can no longer continue his work in law enforcement, and as such, loses his income for the next 20 years of his career. He would likely have at least $1.2 million in damages as a result, not to mention its other damages such as medical expenses, the police pension he would have collected, and so on, from which to make his living for the rest of his life. However, with the help of an experienced Houston personal injury lawyer like Michael Grossman, loss of future earnings can be argued to include likely raises or promotions that other attorneys may not know to argue for so that their client can receive full and fair compensation. One of the defining characteristics of a personal injury or wrongful death lawyer is having the ability as a lawyer to properly account for and quantify all the damages and compensation to which you are entitled. Our Houston defective tire lawyers will carefully evaluate each case to maximize the value of the compensation potential.

Your Damages if a Defective Tire Costs A Loved One’s Life

Wrongful death cases have two main purposes: to ensure just financial compensation for the family of the lost loved one and to prevent future such incidents, bringing about changes in how they do business.

In many instances of fatal auto accidents caused by a defective tire, criminal charges are likely not going to be pressed against a driver or a manufacturer. However, family members affected by such a tragic accident will likely want to seek justice in some form. Their only legal remedy to do as such is through a Houston wrongful death lawsuit. Through such civil action, the liable parties responsible for a fatal tire defect accident in Houston can be identified and held accountable for their negligent behavior. While compensation sought for incurred damages can be helpful in such situations, it is often not the motivating factor for a family to seek such legal action. Instead, they will want to see justice served so that their loved one’s fate does not have to befall another person, causing further grief to another family due to a liable party’s continued negligent behavior.

The shock caused by a sudden and unforeseen tragic death of a loved one in a fatal crash can be devastating, no matter where blame lies – your tire, someone else’s defective tire, a manufacturing defect, an installation or design defect, or another contributing factor. While nothing can compare to the emotional loss you suffered, the financial crisis caused by the death of a family member can be enormous. In addition to finding how to live without the deceased family member, surviving relatives should also try to determine if the family has a mechanism of action for damages and if they need a lawyer. The Houston wrongful death lawyers for Grossman Law Offices have been successfully prosecuting wrongful death accident claims for 20 years.

What are the Damages in Wrongful Death Litigation?

The surviving family of someone lost to a wrongful death caused by a defective tire is entitled to compensation. From the legal point of view, damages does not refer to damage to the family, but the monetary value of the incurred financial losses. Deceased loved ones, in most cases for wrongful death, may have their family sue for two kinds of damages: damages for wrongful death and survival damages.

Wrongful Death Damages

Only spouses, children, parents and rarely, siblings, are entitled to damages from the wrongful death from a car accident. This compensation for wrongful death may include:

• Medical expenses of the victim before death.
• The loss of ongoing monetary support in the future of the deceased would have provided.
• Funeral expenses.
• Compensation for mental and emotional trauma.

Survival Damages

With survival damages, compensation to closest family members may be available for the damages suffered, for instance if only he had suffered injuries in the accident and did not been killed. The line of ascent of survival damages starts with the spouse and goes to children and then to parents and, rarely, the brothers and sisters. Types include:

• Hospital and doctor expenses.
• Lost wages during the hospital stay of the victim would have been if it had survived and recovered
• Damage to property.
• Loss of earning capacity due to the possibility of serious long-term injury.
• Any emotional or mental suffering of the victim, he or she would have suffered in the rehabilitation process if he or she had only been wounded.
• Victim’s physical pain and his suffering.

We Have To Prove it To the Jury

Even if we know the tire failed from faulty manufacture or installation, we have to prove it in court. We must prove the three elements that form the legal basis for a claim of responsibility: duty, breach of causation, and damages. In court, the duty of care is a duty not to expose others to certain types of damage due to action taken or not.

Manufacturers and installers know everything we have explained to you about tires and how they work. They know how important all of this is to the safe operation of your car. So it’s on them to use all the data, research and body of knowledge they have to make, choose and install a tire properly. This is the essence of what a "duty of care" would be related to tires - an obligation to follow a reasonable standard of conduct that prevents human exposure to potential risks.

The next part of the breach of a duty of care is when you do not conform to a standard of reasonable action that can cause others harm. Breach of a duty, for example, is when faulty materials are used knowingly, or corners are cut, or tires are stored improperly, or they are installed improperly, or they are the wrong type for a car, and yet they are used anyway.

Now you must show the liable party or parties caused the damage you incurred. Causation is to demonstrate that the defendant's negligence was the cause of the injury. If you do not have sufficient evidence that the defendant caused the accident in your case, you will not win the case against the tire company.

Eventually, you will need to prove up your damages. You need to prove that the damages you are entitled to are real. This requires a careful and deliberate effort to calculate the total amount of your losses and to determine a fair price. Proving up damages means to prove the allegations in court to support the calculations made in requesting compensation from a negligent party. The judge and jury need convincing evidence and arguments in support of the request. Understanding how to put a specific number on compensation received is usually not an easy task for a layman, and can be challenging for less-tested lawyers. 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 suffered as a result of the accident, but not if you’re without the evidence and the reasons for these losses to develop a convincing argument.

Houston Defective Tire Lawyer Michael Grossman Can Help You After A Rollover Wreck in Houston, TX

For 20 years, the Grossman Law Offices' defective tire lawyers in Houston, Texas have helped victims of rollover wrecks and their families. If you or a loved one has suffered from a Houston, Texas accident caused by a defective tire, call us today for a free consultation with our team of lawyers. With 1,000s of personal injury cases won and 100s of wrongful death lawsuits won, our attorneys have the experience, knowledge, and respected reputation that can help you seek compensation and pursue justice following a tire defect accident in Houston, TX.