The investigation was opened thanks to the research of the widow of a truck driver: indictment planned for Goodyear in the fatal tire affair

The legal representatives of two entities of the American multinational, SAS Goodyear France, distributor of the tires, and SAS Goodyear Operations, which produced the incriminated tires and is headquartered in Luxembourg, are expected in the office of investigating judge Marc Monnier on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to a source close to the case.

The magistrate will decide whether or not to indict these legal entities for "involuntary manslaughter", "deception regarding the substantial qualities of goods" and "deceptive commercial practices", as announced last April by the Besançon prosecutor, Etienne Manteaux.

These last two counts would make the world's third largest tire manufacturer liable to "a maximum fine of up to 10% of its turnover," Mr. Manteaux, who has since left Besançon, stressed.

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The investigation concerns three fatal collisions involving heavy goods vehicles fitted with Goodyear tyres in the Somme, Doubs and Yvelines departments in 2014 and 2016 , which resulted in four deaths in total . It led to searches in May 2024 at Goodyear's premises in France, Luxembourg and at the company's European headquarters in Brussels.

According to the investigations, the accidents were caused by the bursting of the front left tire of the trucks, causing the drivers to lose control of the vehicle. In each of these cases, different experts concluded that the bursting of these Goodyear Marathon LHS II or Marathon LHS II+ tires was not due to an external cause but to a manufacturing defect .

The American giant is accused of having been aware of this defect on these two models, but of not having warned its customers. Since 2013, Goodyear has set up "voluntary exchange programs" , which have allowed it to recover around 50% of the incriminated equipment.

But the group did not carry out a "mandatory" recall of the affected tires , some of which are still available on second-hand sales sites in Eastern Europe, according to the prosecutor.

"Concealment"

Mr. Manteaux criticized the practice of "systematic concealment" intended to avoid "losing consumer confidence ." The accidents "perhaps" could have been avoided if the company had initiated a recall program, he said.

The files of four other similar collisions that occurred between 2011 and 2014 in Hérault, Indre and Isère, in which three people died, were also submitted to the investigation for information purposes, as the facts were time-barred.

These tragedies did not only affect France. "I believe there were accidents all over Europe," said Mr. Manteaux, adding that he had received "several messages of interest" from different countries.

"There will be an offer of service to bring to the attention of other European countries the elements collected as part of" the investigation carried out in France, he said.

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

Rejecting the "road haulage fatality" and the initial dismissal of the case, this former childminder and mother of three children conducted her own investigation on the internet, tirelessly recording heavy goods vehicle accidents to demonstrate the responsibility of the American giant.