NHTSA GRANTS COWEN LAW GROUP REQUEST FOR HERCULES TIRES PROBE
. By LAS Staff Writer
RIO GRANDE VALLEY LAWYER FIGHTING TO PROTECT OTHERS FROM HARM
Brownsville, TX (April 14, 2015) (Press Release)At the request of Michael Cowen of The Cowen Law Group, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has initiated a probe into why a defective Chinese-made tire marketed under different brand names was recalled by one importer - but not another, even though the defective tires share a U.S. distributor.
The Cowen Law Group represents Krystal Cantu, a San Antonio resident at the time of an August 2nd, 2013 crash caused by a catastrophic tread separation, which crushed her right arm resulting in an above-the-elbow amputation. Cantu was a front-seat, belted passenger in a 2004 Ford Explorer Sport Trac, when the left-rear tire - a Capitol Precision Trac II - failed as the vehicle traveled southbound on Interstate 37 in Atascosa County, Texas.
The August 2013 crash, in part, led to a decision by ITG Voma to recall Capitol Precision Trac II tires manufactured between December 2008 and May 2010 for tires lacking a nylon cap ply, which made the tires less robust and prone to tread separations.
On April 2, 2014, Cantu filed a lawsuit in Hidalgo County against ATD, Voma and the manufacturer of the tire, the Shandong Yongsheng Rubber Co., Ltd. During the discovery phase of the case, a manufacturer’s representative revealed that the Capitol Precision Trac II shared a common green tire designation with another tire branded as the Hercules Radial A/T in eight different sizes. (NHTSA defines a common green tire as “tires that are produced to the same internal specifications but that have, or may have different external characteristics and may be sold under different tire line names.”) A Vice President of ATD also testified that Hercules is a subsidiary of ATD.
“It is unconscionable that American Tire Distributors and its Hercules subsidiary have chosen to keep these defective tires on the road, especially after the identical tires sold under the Capital brand were recalled,” Cowen said. “It is important to my client and our office we continue to do everything we can to protect the public and prevent others from suffering a permanent and disabling injury, or even worse a tragic death.”
The attorneys of The Cowen Law Group have aggressively represented victims of injury and death cases across South Texas since 1997. Founding Partner Michael Cowen is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. To better serve clients across South Texas the firm has expanded from their Brownsville headquarters, to now include Laredo and San Antonio. They are proud to provide legal services in fluent Spanish.
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