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Chinese Tires Blamed for Fatal Van Accident

1 Million Similar Tires Sold in U.S.

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

June 25, 2007

A lawsuit blames cheap Chinese tires for a fatal traffic accident in Pennsylvania. The suit says tread separation caused a cargo van carrying four passengers to crash, killing two passengers and injuring the other two. The light truck tires were sold under the names Westlake, Telluride, Compass and YKS.

The case is reminiscent of the huge Firestone tire recall of 2000, when faulty tires were blamed for a series of accidents and rollovers, many involving the Ford Explorer.

"This is a prime example of a private lawsuit with a substantial public benefit," said Jeffrey B. Killino, an attorney with Woloshin & Killino, which represents the families of the deceased and injured. "The Hangzhou Rubber Company deliberately and secretly removed a safety feature from these tires and two young men died as a direct result. This was a tragedy that didn't have to happen, but hopefully we can prevent future fatal crashes."

The tires were manufactured by China's Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co. and imported by Foreign Tire Sales Inc. (FTS), of Union, N.J. FTS says a crucial safety feature was omitted from as many as 450,000 tires it imported from the Chinese company since 2002.

Possible Recall

In a filing with federal safety officials, FTS says that other U.S. distributors have also been selling the tires in question and warns that a recall may be necessary. It estimates there may be a million or more tires involved.

FTS claims it can't afford to pay for the recall itself. It has filed suit in a New Jersey court, sekking to shift liability to Hangzhou.

The safety feature in question is a six-millimeter layer of rubber that is supposed to be placed between the steel belts to strengthen the tire. But FTS says Hangzhou removed the safety feature without notifying its U.S. distributors.

FTS says it noticed the problem a few years ago, as it received a larger than usual number of complaints from consumers. The company says it knows of at least one other accident, this one involving an ambulance in May 2006.

After the ambulance crash, FTS examined the blown tire that caused the rollover. It said it found that the Chinese manufacturer had failed to include the 0.6 mm gum strip between the belts to keep them from separating. FTS stopped buying tires from Hangzhou in June 2006, the report said.

According to FTS, the tires may meet minimal U.S. safety requirements but the company said it often requires its suppliers to add extra safety and durability features.

Pennsylvania Accident

The Pennsylvania accident occurred on August 12, 2006. Rafael B. Melo, Claudeir Jose Figueiredo and Carlos Souza were passengers in a 2000 Chevrolet Express 2500 Cargo Van, bearing a Compass Telluride steel belted radial made in China in 2004.

The van was traveling south on Pennsylvania Route 476, when the tire experienced a tread/belt separation causing the van driver to lose control. The vehicle rolled over and the three passengers were ejected. Melo and Figueiredo died in the crash. Souza suffered a permanent brain injury. The driver, who remained in the vehicle, suffered less severe injuries.

The families of three of the passengers sued FTS on May 4. The van driver also filed suit. The Melo, Figueiredo, and Souza lawsuit filed by Killino prompted FTS to file an $80 million lawsuit against the Hangzhou Rubber Company and notify NHTSA of the defect.

History

According to Foreign Tire Sales report to NHTSA, it contracted the Hangzhou Rubber Company in 2000 to design and manufacture light truck tires that FTS, of Union, N.J., would import and sell. Hangzhou worked with FTS engineers to ensure that the tires could meet all federal safety standards.

At a May 2002 meeting, FTS stressed the importance of tire safety, informing the Chinese manufacturer that light truck tires had been the focus of many recalls and were under government scrutiny. FTS urged Hangzhou to produce tires with nylon cap plies to increase their endurance.

Initially, the tires passed endurance tests, the report said. But once the warranty claims rose in 2005, FTS began conducting its own tests. A visual analysis revealed that some tires seemed to have an insufficient or missing gum strip -- a key safety feature to preserve the integrity of the belts.

After the May crash, FTS said it removed tires from other ambulances and found insufficient or missing gum strips on tires manufactured in 2004 and 2005. In September 2006, Hangzhou finally admitted to FTS that it had reduced or omitted the gum strip from an unspecified number of tires, FTS alleges.

But Hangzhou officials told FTS that in January 2006, it began to reintroduce some amount of the gum strip back into the tires. In March 2007, FTS did further testing and analysis on Hangzhou tires and found that they experienced tread / belt separations at 25,000 miles.

"These tires could pose an immediate danger to consumers and should be removed," said Sean E. Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies, a safety advocacy and consulting firm that has been pushing for tougher tire safety standards. "Unfortunately, we saw during the Ford Explorer-Firestone tire scandal how deadly a defective tire can be -- especially if it is paired with a light truck. It is important that consumers are notified immediately, retailers and wholesalers stop selling them, and they are removed from vehicles until we get some answers."

Tires Identified

This is not a definitive list, but consumers should be on the lookout for steel-belted radial light truck tires sold under the names Westlake, Telluride, Compass and YKS in the following sizes:

• LT235/75R-15
• LT225/75R-16
• LT235/85R-16
• LT245/75R-16
• LT265/75R-16 and
• LT3X10.5-15

According to FTS, tires manufactured by Hangzhou were also sold by the following distributors:

• Tireco, Compton, California
• Strategic Import Supply, Wayzata, Minnesota
• Omni United USA, Inc., Jacksonville, Florida
• Orteck International, Inc. of Gaithersburg, Maryland
• K&D Tire Wholesalers LLC, Carlsbad, California
• Robinson Tire in Laurel, Mississippi. Safety Research & Strategies, Inc.

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