Tire Giant Settles $1B Lawsuit

Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. has reached a $7.5 million settelment in a $1 billion lawsuit filed by a Texas family involved in a rollover accident that left a 39-year-old mother paralyzed.

The settlement was announced as a federal court jury began a fourth day of deliberations in the first case to go to trial since a massive Firestone tire recall.

"We are glad we were able to reach a resolution with the Rodriguez family," Bridgestone/Firestone said in a statement. "Since the outset, when we provided financial assistance to help with the family's medical bills, we have been hopeful that we could reach a fair settlement that would also bring closure to them following this accident."

CBS News Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports that Firestone was concerned that a negative verdict would not only have hurt the financial health of the company, but could have impacted the government's ongoing investigation of Firestone.

"You can discuss it if you want, but I'm going to recommend that you do not anI'm going to tell you why," Vela said. "There are a lot of cases that are still out there, and anything you do or say could impact them."

Federal officials have linked more than 200 deaths to accidents involving Firestone tire failures on Ford Explorers.

Both companies have reached numerous out-of-court settlements with accident victims. Firestone has settled about 200 cases, and has some 300 cases still pending.

The nine-person jury had been considering whether Bridgestone/Firestone or Ford Motor Co. were responsible for the March 2000 crash of a Ford Explorer that left Marisa Rodriguez, a 39-year-old mother of three, brain-damaged.

Her husband, Joel Rodriguez, a doctor from the South Texas town of Pharr, sought $1 billion in a lawsuit against Bridgestone/Firestone. A month before the trial, he settled with Ford for $6 million.

Rodriguez said the family was pleased with the deal.

"Our mission here, for our family, was to make sure no other person suffered like our family did," he said. "We feel that our objective has been met."

While Ford was not a defendant in the suit, the trial threatened the automaker's largely effective efforts to blame Bridgestone/Firestone for accidents in which Explorers rolled over when a tire's tread peeled off.

Rodriguez's brother, Jorge Rodriguez, was driving the Explorer on a family trip in Mexico when the steel belt and tread on the right rear tire tore apart. The vehicle overturned three times, crushing the roof above the back seat.

Rodriguez's lawyers argued that Firestone officials knew the tread on their Wilderness AT tire was more likely to separate than on other tires but rejected inexpensive changes to fix the problem.

"This tire has killed more people than Timothy McVeigh. That is the awesome nature of the tragedy," said Mikal Watts, a lawyer for the victim's family.

Firestone lawyers and executives blamed the accident on the family's Ford Explorer, saying design flaws made it prone to rolling over. They said the tire was fine when it left the factory but began to tear apart after the Explorer ran over a baseball-sized object.

"Without any question, this accident was a tragedy for the Rodriguez family. The tragic consequences were also caused by the fundamental design defects in the Ford Explorer," Firestone attorney Knox Nunnally said.

Bridgestone/Firestone chief executive John Lampe testified that tread separation is not uncommon and that other vehicles could have pulled over safely after a tire failure.

Internal Firestone documents showed that executives wanted to cut costs at a Decatur, Ill., plant that made the recalled tires. The documents also showed Firestone declined to use 90-cent nylon strips that company research found would have reduced the risk of tread separation by three to five times.

Firestone, a subsidiary of Japan's Bridgestone Corp., agreed last summer to recall 6.5 million tires. Earlier this year, Ford and Firestone severed a 95-year relatonship, and Ford said it would replace an additional 13 million Firestone tires sold with its vehicles.

Bridgestone Corp. reported a $251 million loss for the first six months of the year, including a one-time charge of $564.3 million because of the tire recall and restructuring.

Rodriguez delivered some of the trial's most emotional testimony, describing how his once-vibrant wife now spends her days sitting at a table or watching television, a frightening sight to her 4-year-old son, Joel Jr.

"He wouldn't even climb up to the bed or be near her because he was scared. He would tell me that 'My mama is dead,'" Rodriguez said.

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