Document text
Lawsuit puts the skids on front-tire-only studs Wire and local sources EUGENE -- Taking the car in to get studded tires on the front of a front-wheel-drive vehicle is a winter ritual. But this year, that ritual is undergoing a big change. Jarred by a $1.3 million lawsuit over the role front-wheels-only studded tires played in a fatal 1996 car wreck near the Santiam Pass, many tire dealers are refusing to install studded tires on just the two front wheels of front-wheel, all-wheel or four-wheel drive vehicles. A dealership will probably insist that you get them for all four wheels. In Medford, Big O Tires has chosen to do just that. Store co-owner Donna Rogers said that when customers ask to put on two studded tires, she shows them a brochure from the Northwest Tire Dealers Association explaining why putting studded tires on all four wheels works best for winter driving. Rogers also tells customers the store has chosen not to put on just the two studded tires for the customers' safety. "If you have a customer's best interest at heart, you won't do it," Rogers said. Steve Smith, who co-owns the Big O Tires store with Rogers, said that so far, customers have been pretty nice about the change. "They understand," said Smith, standing in front of a "For Your Safety" poster explaining the new policy. Major tire dealers are agreeing with it, he said. A manager of a Les Schwab store in Medford said it's the store's policy to put studded tires on all four wheels, too, but didn't comment further. The new policy has riled some car owners. "Naturally there's the extra cost involved. They're paying double what they expected to pay," said Jim Provost, assistant manager at the Tire Factory store in Springfield. But he said the dealership is adamant. "That's just the new policy." A set of four studded tires can run $320. The decision stems in part from a crash on Jan. 13, 1996, near the Santiam Pass that killed Kathryn Nelson, 47, and her stepdaughter, Christiana Nelson, 31. The Nelsons' car was hit by a vehicle equipped with studded tires only on the front wheels. The lawsuit, which has yet to go to trial, claims that the absence of studded tires on the back wheels contributed to the crash. In the lawsuit in Deschutes County Circuit Court against Les Schwab and tire marketer Hercules Tire & Rubber Co., Kathryn Nelson's estate is seeking up to $1.3 million. According to the lawsuit, Robert and Marsha Worlock went to a Les Schwab Tire Centers outlet in Newberg in December 1995. Despite the fact that a sign in the dealership and an employee both recommended placing studded tires on all four wheels, the Worlocks bought only two and had the dealership place them on the front wheels, according to the lawsuit. The next month Robert Worlock lost control of his vehicle, which crossed into oncoming traffic and collided with the Nelsons' car. Both Nelsons died instantly. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Kathryn Nelson's then-16-year-old son, Chris. It claims that with only the two front tires equipped with studs, chains or other traction devices, a vehicle's rear tires are more likely to skid, causing the rear end to swing around when braking or turning on slick pavement. Many industry and government experts have long agreed. The suit also claims that the tires should have been labeled with a warning that installing studded snow tires on only the front wheels of a front-wheel-drive vehicle would cause it to go out of control under foreseeable conditions. The suit also alleges that Les Schwab installed the tires without warning the buyers that doing so could result in death or injury. Les Schwab said it is contesting the suit. For years, tire dealerships, industry groups and government officials have recommended that studded tires be used on front-wheel, all-wheel and four-wheel-drive vehicles only if they are installed on all four wheels. Oregon has no law or regulation requiring use of studded tires on all wheels, said Robert Smith, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Transportation. The studded tire season runs Nov. 1 to April 1. Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA