The son of a couple who died in a motorcycle accident last year is suing a tire manufacturer and the motorcycle retailer for wrongful death. This type of lawsuit can be brought by a family member of a victim who died as a result of negligence on the part of a third party. For cases involving car or motorcycle accidents, family members often investigate whether the vehicle may have had any latent defects that could have caused the accident.
This is just one example of how many factors may be at play when a motorcycle accident occurs. Many people assume that motorcycle riders are not careful or that biking is dangerous to begin with, but the truth is that accident happen all the time for various reasons not related to driver negligence.
In this case, one of the tires on the Harley-Davidson motorcycle that the couple was riding was faulty and eventually blew out while they were riding together. The lawsuit specifically alleges that a tube within one of the tires was not functioning properly, which was the cause of the blow out that resulted in the crash.
Tire accidents like the one in this case are more common than many people realize. There are various factors that can contribute to a tire blowout, and it is the job of the manufacturer to foresee those possible hazards and to adequately design a product to be safe for ordinary uses. The facts of this case do not indicate that the couple put an extraordinary amount of wear and tear on the tire, so an appropriately designed tire should have continued to function properly.
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Tire maker sued in fatal cycle crash” March 5, 2013
More information about the rights of victims of motorcycle accidents can be found on our Knoxville personal injury site.