Beginning Tuesday, representatives of the company will appear before an investigating judge in Besançon as part of proceedings that could lead to formal charges.
Legal representatives of two entities within the American tyre giant – SAS Goodyear France, which distributes the tyres, and SAS Goodyear Operations, the manufacturer of the tyres in question, headquartered in Luxembourg – have been summoned to appear before Judge Marc Monnier on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to a source close to the case.
The judge will decide whether to formally charge the companies with involuntary manslaughter, misrepresentation of product characteristics, and deceptive commercial practices, charges outlined back in April by then-Besançon prosecutor Etienne Manteaux. The last two offences could expose Goodyear, the world’s third-largest tyre manufacturer, to a maximum fine of up to 10% of its global turnover, Manteaux had noted before leaving his post.
The broader investigation centres on three fatal road collisions involving lorries equipped with Goodyear tyres, which occurred in the departments of Somme, Doubs, and Yvelines in 2014 and 2016, resulting in four deaths. In May 2024, police carried out searches at Goodyear sites in France, Luxembourg, and the company’s European headquarters in Brussels.
Investigators believe the crashes were caused by the rupture of the front-left tyre on each vehicle, causing drivers to lose control. Independent experts assigned to each case concluded that the tyre failures were not due to external factors but rather to a manufacturing flaw in the Goodyear Marathon LHS II and Marathon LHS II+ models.
Prosecutors allege that Goodyear was aware of the defect but failed to notify customers. In 2013, the company launched voluntary exchange programmes, which recovered around half of the affected tyres. However, no mandatory recall was ever issued, and some of the tyres reportedly remain available through second-hand sellers in Eastern Europe.
Former prosecutor Etienne Manteaux criticised what he described as a systematic effort to keep the issue quiet to avoid damaging consumer trust. He argued that some of the deaths might have been prevented had Goodyear initiated a full recall.
In addition to the three primary cases, four similar crashes between 2011 and 2014 in Hérault, Indre, and Isère – resulting in three further fatalities – have been added to the investigation for context, though they can no longer be prosecuted due to the statute of limitations.
Manteaux also suggested that such incidents may have occurred beyond France, saying at the time that other countries had expressed interest in the French investigation. He added that France would offer to share its findings with authorities elsewhere in Europe.
The investigation began in 2016 following a complaint by Sophie Rollet, the widow of Jean-Paul Rollet, a 53-year-old lorry driver who died in a crash on the A36 motorway in July 2014. Unwilling to accept the case’s initial dismissal or view her husband’s death as unavoidable, Rollet, a former childcare worker and mother of three, launched her own inquiry.
Through months of research, she compiled cases of similar lorry accidents to build evidence of Goodyear’s alleged responsibility and bring the matter back to light.
