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HOUSTON, March 15 (Reuters) - A Texas judge has approved a $149 million settlement of class-action lawsuits stemming from the massive recall of Firestone tires in August 2000.
Firestone maker Bridgestone Americas Holding Inc. said on Monday the settlement covers only the owners of Firestone tires who did not suffer injuries or damages from crashes attributed to the tires. Bridgestone said the agreement includes a three-year, $15.5 million consumer awareness campaign about tire safety, $19 million in legal fees and $3.5 million to notify class members.
The settlement, issued late on Friday, also includes $70 million to replace any of the Wilderness ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tires that may still on the road, $41 million to manufacture certain tires with better high-speed capacity and $2,500 apiece to each of the 45 named consumers.
Bridgestone North Americas, the Nashville-based unit of Japan's Bridgestone Corp. , has already replaced many of the 6.2 million tires it estimated were on the road at the time of the recall. About 60 million of the tires were made.
"We're pleased because we think a settlement is in the best interests of all parties," said Dan MacDonald, a Bridgestone North Americas spokesman.
Judge Donald Floyd of the 172nd District in Beaumont, Texas, signed a 69-page order approving the settlement late Friday, the judge's office confirmed. He had given preliminary approval to the settlement last July.
Bridgestone recalled the tires after federal regulators linked them to rollover accidents, many involving Ford Motor Co. Explorers. Hundred of people were injured and 271 deaths were reported.
Lawyers for the small number of plaintiffs that had objected to the settlement in a fairness hearing held in January, said they were unhappy with the order.
"It's a bad settlement. We're going to appeal for sure," said Mitchell Toups, a lawyer representing objectors to the settlement.
"This settlement doesn't do anything that Firestone was already required to do," he added.