A local law firm landed a $16 million settlement for the family of a patriarch who was killed by a wheel-off event on a rural Missouri highway in 2020.
“Wheel-off events happen a lot more than people expect,” said Mark Emison, an attorney who represented the family. “We found the confidential tire service company had 16 of these events in the past 10 years before this happened.”
The husband and father was hit by a tire that had separated from a tractor-trailer in the opposite lane. Described as an ‘unguided 200-pound missile,’ the flying wheel slammed into the 72-year-old’s windshield striking his upper body.
“The spouse of the decedent actually witnessed the event, which makes it even that more traumatic,” Emison told the St. Louis Record. “She was with him shortly after and he passed away a few hours later.”
Negligence likely lead to the multimillion-dollar payout, according to Emison who worked on the case with Alex Thrasher, and his father Kent Emison of Langdon & Emison.
As previously reported in Missouri Lawyers Media, there were signs of loose lug nuts that the trucking company allegedly did not identify as well as a failure to properly assemble the wheel before the accident occurred.
"The case was going to go before a jury in a short amount of time, which happens in a lot of different cases but I think it was obvious that this would've never happened without negligence," Emison said. "Really something like this should never happen. It's what we call a never event."
The trucking company also allegedly offered insufficient training and had a track record of federal regulators warning them about equipment violations.
"The case was not quick to settle it," Emison said. "It was litigated for more than two years. The defendant involved had an intervention by the Department of Transportation just months before this happened for maintenance and inspection and these problems continued to happen."
The family remained anonymous throughout the litigation along with the trucking company and tire service company who were named as confidential defendants.
“This family was very close-knit and they've lost a beloved father and beloved husband,” Emison said in an interview. “They'd been married for several decades and of course, the family's devastated. This is a shocking event.”
The trucking company paid $10 million of the settlement and the tire service company paid $6 million, according to media reports.
"We did focus groups leading up to this and in talking to people, most people have an experience where the wheel was loose or it came off," Emison added. "So, I think it's a bigger problem than people realize."