Authorities conducted raids on three European sites owned by the American tire company Goodyear as part of an investigation into crashes caused by burst truck tires. The searches took place at Goodyear locations in France, Luxembourg, and the company’s European headquarters in Brussels. The investigation is focused on determining Goodyear’s knowledge of the dangers posed by the Marathon LHS II and Marathon LHS II+ tires, as well as how many incidents the company was aware of.

The probe stems from a tragic incident on France’s A36 motorway in July 2014, where two truck drivers lost their lives due to a tire burst causing one of them to lose control of the vehicle. Following the accident, Sophie Rollet, whose husband Jean-Paul was a victim, filed a criminal complaint against Goodyear in 2016 after conducting her own investigation.

Goodyear has confirmed that it is cooperating fully with the authorities during the searches. The investigating magistrate in Besancon, eastern France, issued a request for international assistance to carry out the searches. The focus of the investigation is to determine the extent of Goodyear’s awareness regarding the safety risks posed by the specific tire models in question.