On October 13, 2011, the Newsome Law Firm won a $13.6 million verdict for a client in a tire tread separation lawsuit. The lawsuit followed a tragic accident in which a 45 year old woman was severely injured when her rear right tire suffered a tread separation on Interstate 75 in Florida, causing her vehicle to slide into the median where it rolled five times. Despite wearing her seatbelt, the driver was rendered a quadriplegic.
Attorneys, Richard Newsome and Frank Melton of the Newsome Law Firm alleged that an automotive repair shop and its employees inspected the tire 3 months before the crash, negligently overlooked an existing repair in the tire and performed an improper repair in another area of the same tire. This combination of events allowed air and moisture to get between the layers of the tire, which eventually caused the catastrophic tread separation. The Newsome Law Firm alleged that the tire should have been removed from service and replaced with a new tire, according to well-recognized industry standards.