Fatal HGV crashes: Goodyear in court in France over tyre defect claims

Representatives of the American tyre manufacturer Goodyear were summoned to appear in court in France this week as part of an investigation into the alleged concealment of tyre defects that led to fatal road accidents.

The companies in question - distributor SAS Goodyear France and manufacturer SAS Goodyear Operations - were summoned to appear before an investigating judge in Besançon (Doubs..

The companies face possible indictment in connection with the allegations.

Judge Marc Monnier is to decide whether or not to indict the companies for “involuntary manslaughter”, “misrepresentation of the essential qualities of a product” and “deceptive commercial practices”.

The possible charges were announced in April by then-Besançon public prosecutor, Etienne Manteaux. If charged, the two latter charges alone risk the company being fined up to 10% of its turnover, he warned at the time.

Fatal collisions

The allegations come after four people died in three fatal traffic collisions involving HGVs fitted with Goodyear tyres. The accidents happened in 2014 and 2016 in the Somme, Doubs and Yvelines regions.

Subsequent investigations led to searches - in 2024 - at Goodyear sites in France, Luxembourg (where SAS Goodyear Operations is based) and at the company's European headquarters in Brussels.

Investigators later alleged that the fatal accidents had been caused by the front left tyre bursting, causing the drivers to suddenly lose control of their vehicles. In each case, experts have claimed that the tyres (either the Goodyear Marathon LHS II or Marathon LHS II+ models) burst due to a manufacturing defect, and not due to an external issue. 

Four other collisions are also being considered as part of the evidence against Goodyear. These include similar accidents that happened between 2011 and 2014 in Hérault, Indre and Isère, killing three people.

Detailed investigations into the allegations began in 2016 in Besançon, after a complaint was filed by Sophie Rollet, the widow of Jean-Paul Rollet, a 53-year-old truck driver who died in an accident on the A36 motorway in Doubs in July 2014.

Ms Rollet refused to accept the “inevitability of road accidents” and the initial decision to close the accident investigation case, and continued her own investigation. She compiled a list of accidents involving HGVs.

No mandatory recall

Goodyear now stands accused of having been aware of the defect and failing to notify customers or take the products off the market. As early as 2013, Goodyear set up a “voluntary exchange programme”, in which up to 50% of the tyres in question were recovered.

However, it did not issue a mandatory recall nor ban these tyres from resale. Some are still available for purchase on second-hand resale websites even now, the French prosecutor claimed. 

During his investigations, Mr Manteaux said that the company had engaged in a “systemic practice of concealment” intended to avoid “undermining consumer confidence”. He added that the fatal accidents in France could have “perhaps” been avoided if the company had issued a recall.

Read also: What are you supposed to do with old car tyres in France? 

An issue beyond France

Mr Manteaux, who is now part of the Grenoble public prosecutor’s office, said he had also received messages that suggested the tyres may have caused other accidents in Europe, not just in France.

“(We will) offer to share the information gathered in the investigation carried out in France with other European countries,” he said.