Florida Injury Attorney Blog

There was a serious accident on I-295 near New Kings Road in Jacksonville, Florida that resulted in one death and several more serious injuries, according to an article on Jacksonville.com. Apparently, a Ford Explorer SUV full of students going to the beach flipped over ejecting many of the occupants. The article indicated that one of the tires on the Ford Explorer blew causing the driver to lose control and ultimately crash into a pole after flipping over several times. The investigation into the details of the crash is ongoing. This is obviously a horrible accident and tragedy. There will surely be a thorough investigation by traffic homicide detectives and other law enforcement personnel. Of course, based on the early articles, the main area of focus for investigators will be whether the tire on the Ford Explorer malfunctioned. Some people may recall that there is a history of tire failure on Ford vehicles. Specifically, several years ago the U.S. government addressed the high failure rate of tires on Ford Explorers. It was determined that certain tires on Ford Explorers (and other vehicles) had an inordinately high failure rate. As a result, several personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits were brought against Ford and tire manufacturer Firestone, and Firestone closed down one of its tire plants. While it is unclear at this early stage what caused the tire to fail, assuming the article is correct that it did, but one of the problems with tires on Ford vehicles in the past related to tread separation which occurs when the tread on the tire peels off from the tire. When this occurs, it makes it very difficult for the driver to maneuver the vehicle and creates a serious hazard for the driver and occupants. Rollovers such as the one in the case often result. This scenario can also lead to Ford or other car manufacturers blaming the tire company for manufacturing a faulty tire while tire companies blame the car manufacturer for designing a vehicle that is unsafe and rolls over too easily. When a tragic accident such as this one occurs in this manner, especially when young people are involved, you can be sure there will be a thorough investigation. That will initially involve law enforcement but ultimately personal injury and wrongful death attorneys who are familiar with the issues and dangers involved in faulty tires and vehicles that may be overly susceptible to rolling over.