Last year a bus carrying passengers on a tour through Mexico crashed, killing and injuring several people. Now, many of the “injured passengers and the family members of those killed” have decided to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Francisco Tours, Motor Coach Industries, and Michelin North America alleging “a defective Michelin tire that was almost brand new was to blame for the crash.” The suit was filed late last week in Harris County, Texas. But what happened?
Last year a bus carrying passengers on a tour through Mexico crashed, killing and injuring several people. Now, many of the “injured passengers and the family members of those killed” have decided to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Francisco Tours, Motor Coach Industries, and Michelin North America alleging “a defective Michelin tire that was almost brand new was to blame for the crash.” The suit was filed late last week in Harris County, Texas. But what happened?
Well, according to the 23-page complaint filed by attorneys with the Abraham Watkins firm in Houston, the “crash victims were traveling from Houston to Mexico last October on a tour bus trip organized by defendant Francisco Tours when the tread on one of the tires separated from the tire itself, causing the driver to lose control and crash.” Two of the passengers, Pedro and Jovita Alvarez, lost their lives in the accident while several others were injured. When commenting on the defective tire that caused the crash, attorney Muhammad Aziz said:
“The tire that failed was not old or worn out, it was supposedly manufactured a few months before this incident.”
The tire in question was a Michelin XZA2 Energy 315. It was “installed on the front left side of the bus when it suffered a catastrophic tread-belt separation,” according to the suit. Additionally, the complaint alleges “Michelin had other similar tires in its product line that were safer and less prone to tread separations.”
Michelin isn’t the only defendant under fire in the complaint. According to the suit, the plaintiffs allege that “bus manufacturer Motor Coach Industries is also at fault for the deaths and injuries for installing bus windows that failed to comply with local, state, and federal regulations, did not meet industry standards, and were unreasonably dangerous.”
In addition, the complaint states Motor Coach Industries allegedly “failed to install seat belts in the bus,” which prompted Aziz to state:
“There is no reason that a bus manufactured in 2004 should not have seat belts to protect passengers. The lack of seat belts in passenger and school buses is a primary cause of death and severe injury in bus accidents.”
There are currently 14 plaintiffs included in the complaint, “many of whom represent minor children or the two passengers who died.” They’re seeking “punitive damages for claims of wrongful death, product liability, gross negligence and breach of warranty,” according to the suit.
At the moment, none of the defendants have responded to requests for comment.
Sources:
Tire Maker Faces Wrongful Death Suit Over Bus Crash
Formal Complaint Filed Against Francisco Tours, Motor Coach Industries and Michelin North America
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