A South Texas jury returned a nearly $12 million verdict against the nation’s largest tire maker after finding defective tires caused a wreck that killed six people.

According to a news story published in the McAllen Monitor, the jury found that a manufacturing flaw in a Goodrich tire — made by South Carolina-based Michelin North America — substantially contributed to the New Year’s Eve 2006 crash that occurred just outside Matamoros.

The tire on a 2002 Ford F-250 pickup shredded, forcing the truck into oncoming traffic where it collided with a Chevy Suburban, killing all six passengers and leaving a 10-year old boy in the pickup paralyzed.

Throughout the trial, attorneys argued that leaks in the roof of a Tuscaloosa, Ala., manufacturing plant had damaged the machinery used to make hundreds of tires. The faulty tire on the pickup truck was among that batch.

Defects like this kill people every day. Don’t fight this kind of battle alone. If you or someone you love has been injured in Texas car wreck, contact an experienced Texas car wreck attorney or defective product lawyer for professional insight.