Rollover survivors suing manufacturers
The survivors and the families of the eight USU students who were killed in a van rollover accident last year have filed a class action lawsuit against the companies that made the van and its tires.
The families allege that DaimlerChryler Corporation and Cooper Tire and Rubber Company sold products which they knew were faulty.
“These vans have issues with stability, design issues, steering wander, an unreasonably high center of gravity, and roof crush. There are also issues with the design and manufacture of the tires.” said Brad Bearnson, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs.
“We think Chrysler has been well aware and should have done something about this long ago.” He said both the tires and the van have been subject to litigation in other cases previous to this lawsuit.
However, the particular make of tire that was on the van at the time of the accident has never been recalled and “has been an excellent product from a quality standpoint,” according to Patricia J. Brown, a spokesperson for Cooper Tire.
USU instructor Evan Parker was driving ten students back from a field trip in a university-owned 15-passenger van Sept. 26, 2005 when a tire blew, causing the van to roll four times. Parker and eight of the students were killed as a result of the crash.
Brown said that the Cooper Tire Company will begin its own formal inquiry into the circumstances involved in the accident as soon as it is served with the lawsuit, and pointed to the conclusions reached by the Utah Highway Patrol’s investigation into the accident.
According to Brown, “The Highway Patrol concluded the van was overloaded, traveling at approximately 100 miles per hour (which is 25 miles an hour over the posted speed limit), unfortunately not a single occupant was wearing seat belts as required by Utah law, and that the tire that separated was under-inflated.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has concluded that safety studies show that proper tire pressure and obeying tire and vehicle load limits are among the most important factors in avoiding tread separation accidents.”
Not everyone agrees with the Utah Highway Patrol’s findings of the accident, however.
According to USU PR representative John DeVilbiss, vehicle maintenance records showed that pressure in the tire that blew was low, but not alarmingly so. He also said that the allegation that the van was traveling 100 mile per hour is “difficult to comprehend.” According to DeVilbiss, “Evan Parker was a very responsible person, and we find it unfathomable that he would be driving at those speeds.”
According to an investigation commissioned by the Utah Division of Risk Management, the van was more likely traveling around 85 miles per hour. Tuesday was the one-year anniversary of the accident, and a remembrance gathering was held in honor of the eight victims in the Taggart Student Center ballroom. Also, the Agriculture Technology club sponsored a tractor procession Tuesday led by 11 tractors symbolizing each of the 11 people involved in the accident, all of whom were in the agriculture department.
“This was the worst accident in US history for a university,” DeVilbiss said.
Bearnson said the plaintiffs in the suit include all family of all injured parties except for Parker. If the case goes to trial they will seek a sum of money which has not yet been determined.
Representatives of DaimlerChrysler Corporation could not be reached as of press time.
-dfelix@cc.usu.edu