Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. v. Brashier

298 So. 2d 685
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 5, 1974
Docket47413
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 298 So. 2d 685 (Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. v. Brashier) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. v. Brashier, 298 So. 2d 685 (Mich. 1974).

Opinion

298 So.2d 685 (1974)

GOODYEAR TIRE AND RUBBER CO., a foreign corp., d/b/a Goodyear Service Stores and A.L. Sutherland, Jr.
v.
Mrs. W. H. (Gurchia) BRASHIER.

No. 47413.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

August 5, 1974.
Rehearing Denied September 3, 1974.

Gibbes, Graves, Mullins & Bullock, Laurel, for appellants.

Collins & Tew, Laurel, for appellee.

*686 SUGG, Justice:

This is an appeal from the Chancery Court of Jones County. The complainant, Mrs. Brashier, filed suit by attachment in chancery against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., a foreign corporation, d/b/a Goodyear Service Stores and one of its managers, A.L. Sutherland, Jr. Mrs. Brashier alleged in her complaint that the defendants negligently installed oversized tires on her automobile, and that such installation caused her to lose control of the automobile resulting in a one-car accident in which she received serious injuries. The chancellor found in the complainant's favor and awarded her damages in the sum of $17,500.

It is unquestioned that the defendants installed tires larger than the original or optional tires available from the maufacturer on complainant's car and that complainant suffered injuries as a result of a one-car accident approximately 6 weeks after the oversized tires were installed. The crucial question is whether or not the complainant's evidence proved a causal relation between the installation of the oversized tires and the accident in which she was injured.

W.H. Brashier, husband of the complainant, testified that he was the owner of a 1965 two-door Rambler automobile, factory-equipped with 6:45 X 14 tires. On December 15, 1971, Brashier took his automobile, normally used by his wife, to the defendant's store for the installation of new tires. Defendant Sutherland, manager of the store, told Brashier that he did not have any 6:45 X 14 tires on hand at that time, but had a larger size tire (7:75 X 14) which he would install at a lower price. Four 7:75 X 14 tires were thereupon installed on the car by the defendant.

Brashier further testified that his wife complained shortly after the installation of the new tires that the car was not handling properly. Brashier stated, however, that on the two occasions he had driven the car, subsequent to the installation of the tires and prior to the accident, he noticed no vibration, no noise emanating from the wheel area and no "grabbing" in the steering mechanism when the wheel was turned.

The complainant, Mrs. Brashier, testified that she noticed a "shimmy" when she drove the car a day after the 7:75 X 14 tires were installed and, that although the "shimmy" was not constant, the steering wheel would jerk occasionally to the left or right. After dark on the evening of January 29, 1972, Mrs. Brashier was driving home from work at approximately 50 miles per hour on a straight, flat blacktop road. She testified that the steering mechanism suddenly began "grabbing" with the result that the steering wheel was jerked out of her hands and the car swerved from side to side for about 150 feet and ran off the road on the left side. She further testified that she knew the tires were inflated when she left work to go home because she had checked them before beginning her journey.

The car traveled approximately 100 feet after leaving the highway and stopped at a small clump of trees. The front end of the automobile was damaged in the accident requiring repairs in excess of $500, including replacing the right front wheel and the right front suspension assembly. The left front tire of the automobile was flat and the right front tire approximately half flat after the accident. On the morning following the accident the automobile was pulled backwards by a wrecker to the side of the road without changing tires. The left front tire was replaced with a spare and the automobile was then towed with the front wheels on the ground, approximately 5 miles to the motor company where it was subsequently repaired.

Complainant called as her witness Graham Watts, the operator of an automobile repair business limited principally to wheel alignment, frame straightening and brake service, who testified that no special clearances are required between tires and the undercarriage of vehicles, but that there would have to be sufficient clearance for a *687 wheel to be free to roll. He did not examine the Brashier automobile but testified from photographs of the Brashier automobile and from the photographs expressed the opinion that the tires as installed by the defendants would not permit the wheels to turn properly.

He further testified that the tires would get hot, expand and affect the steering by braking the car occasionally which would cause the wheel to be jerked. He further testified that an automobile equipped with tubeless tires, if swerved from side to side hard enough, would cause the tires to become deflated because the seal at the rim would be broken. On cross-examination he stated that the question of whether or not a tire will operate or perform on an automobile is determined by whether it has sufficient clearance and whether or not it will fit the automobile. He further stated that approximately 25% of the automobiles today are equipped with oversized tires.

Defendant called as a witness Alex J. Junker, a mechanical engineer employed by American Motors Corporation, the manufacturer of the automobile, who verified that the Brashier automobile was originally equipped with 6:45 X 14 tires and that 6:95 X 14 tires were optional. He explained that the tire sizes listed in the American Motors publication represent original and optional equipment available by order from the company, but because of the large number of tire sizes, styles and materials, American Motors includes in its publication a minimum number of tire sizes, usually a standard tire and one oversize which can be obtained from American Motors. If a purchaser wants any other size tire, he must purchase it from a tire dealer because American Motors does not furnish tires in sizes other than those listed in their publications.

Dr. William H. Tonn, a consulting engineer, was called as a witness by the defendant and testified about tests made by him and Louie M. Davis, a field engineer for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. The automobile tested by them was the same make and model as the Brashier automobile and was aligned according to the specifications of the manufacturer. According to this witness the 7:75 X 14 tires would not touch any part of the frame or front wheel suspension of the automobile; that the tires in question were closer to the trunnion than any part of the car and that the clearance was 7/32nds of an inch at this point. He further testified about extensive tests given the car with the tires installed and stated that it was impossible to make the tires come in contact with any part of the automobile and interfere in any way with the proper steering or operation of the automobile. He further stated that expansion of a properly inflated tire of the kind in question by heat was not measurable within 1/32nd of an inch. He further testified that on a flat, hard surface a sidewise skid at any speed will not pull a tire loose from the rim and cause it to lose any air; however, he stated that if a car is skidded into soft ground or gravel, the surface material may pile up onto the sidewall of the tire into the area where the bead mounts to the wheel. If this occurs, it is possible to break the seal between the tire and the wheel thus causing the tire to deflate because of the pressure of the surface material against the sidewall of the tire.

Louie M.

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