Jury rules in Michelin's favor in tire failure lawsuit

ALICE, Texas (Dec. 7)—A jury has cleared Michelin Tire Corp. of negligence in a personal injury lawsuit involving a Uniroyal Laredo tire, while its insurance carrier reached a settlement with the plaintiffs. The Jim Wells County jury rule in Michelin's favor at the end of a Nov. 26-30 trial over a suit brought against the company by the family of a Noe Benavides, a U.S. Border Patrol Agent who died in an April 1999 rollover accident involving a nine-year-old Laredo tire that separated. Attorneys for the survivors of Benavides sought $80 million in damages. Michelin claimed the tire failed because of its age, poor condition and underinflated state. Michelin's insurance carrier, American International Group Inc., agreed to a confidential settlement with the Benavides family.