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Suit settled against Continental Tire for defective tire that caused catastrophic injuries

September 8, 2003

 

On October 31, 2001, Charles H. Peirre-Louis an employee of Environmental Care, Inc., of West Palm Beach, was driving northbound on the Florida turnpike in a company leased Ford F-150 pick-up truck. Fremond Jean Baptiste, also an environmental employee, was a retrained passenger in the truck.

The Ford truck was equipped with a Continental 550AS Tire. Continental manufactured this particular model of tire for Ford.

As the Ford F-150 was traveling northbound on the Florida Turnpike, the Ford truck suddenly and unexpectedly experienced tread-belt separation and a tire blow out. The tire failure caused the driver of the truck to loose control of the vehicle ultimately causing the truck to rollover. During the rollover, Mr. Baptiste was partially ejected and pinned under the truck.

As a result of the accident, Fremond Jean Baptiste suffered serious catastrophic injuries including Paraplegia. Evidence showed that the vehicle was properly operated and that the driver did all he could to keep the truck under control. However, "it was the tire that led to the vehicle rollover," stated Ed Ricci. "Like the Firestone Wilderness tires, we believe the evidence strongly supported that the Ameri *550AS Tires under certain environmental conditions, namely hot weather, would suffer catastrophic failure. Unfortunately, that is what happened here," added Ricci.

The settlement that we reached with Continental Tire will assist in relief of some of the financial burden, however the physical injuries that Mr. Baptiste sustained and will continue to be challenged by, will be with him for the rest of his life. It is important to recognize that this case was not only about the plaintiff's injuries and losses, but public safety as a whole. We hope that the dangers of this particular model of Continental Tire have been exposed,” Ricci explained.

Attorney Edward M. Ricci in the law firm of Edward M. Ricci, P.A., has specialized in civil trial law for more than 34 years. The firm is headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida at 515 N. Flagler Avenue, Suite 400. Mr. Ricci can be contacted at (561) 842-2820. Additional information about Edward M. Ricci, P.A. may be obtained from the firm's website at www.edriccilaw.com.
 

WEST PALM BEACH, FL - Attorney Edward Ricci announced that a favorable settlement has been reached in a case filed against Continental Tire and Al Packer Ford on behalf of the firm's client Fremond Jean & Marie Baptiste.

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