$30 Million Awarded Trucker in Accident
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A truck driver has won a $30.1-million judgment for a wreck, blamed on a tire blowout, that cost him both of his legs.
Michelin Tire Co. is liable for 90% of the verdict reached Friday by a circuit court jury. The jury assigned 9% of the blame to the tire’s distributor and split the remaining 1% between Lovett and his employer, a now-defunct trucking company.
The left front tire on Julian Lovett’s 18-wheeler blew out on April 24, 1989, sending the truck swerving into a ditch. Lovett’s attorney, Joe Reiter, charged that the tire design allowed water to seep into the rubber, rusting the tire’s reinforcing steel wire and loosening the bond between steel and rubber.
Michelin’s lawyers said the accident was caused by several factors, including tire wear and corrosion caused by fertilizer, Lovett’s cargo.
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