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.

The automaker Toyota is being vague about a defective steering relay rod.

The rod connects the pitman arm to the steering center link.  The problem is occurring in about a million light trucks and SUVs built between 1989 to 1998.

The rod has a tendency to snap causing a total loss of steering while the vehicle is in motion thus causing a disastrous truck wreck.

Toyota knew about the malfunction yet did not issue a recall.  It finally took a child’s death and a lawsuit to bring the problem to the public.  Toyota eventually issued a recall yet they have only successfully repaired about 32 percent of the defected vehicles.

Factoring in the vehicles that have been wrecked or junked, the total number of faulty vehicles on U.S. roads today is still about 500,000!

Quite suddenly, it seems, cheap, Chinese-made motorcycles are all the rage.

Over the last decade or so, these cheap under-powered knock-offs have been filling up cities across the globe because, well, they’re cheap. Like, 400 USD for a 50cc bike that will get you around Mumbai or Shanghai.

Now, we’re beginning to see more and more of them imported to this country.

The problem is that they really are cheap. This means they aren’t always built to the standards of American products.

It also means that the product liability aspect of the things has not been tested.

U.S. manufacturers and the established majors from Japan and Europe have to contend with laws that hold them liable for defects in their products.

Has anyone had to deal with this issue on a Chinese motorcycle? The local dealer certainly can’t accept the liability and what are your chances with a company from China responding to your claims or concerns, especially if it’s one of the smaller ones? Further, it’s something of a Chinese cottage industry. There are hundreds — if not thousands — of small manufacturers.

With the rapidly increasing Chinese presence, someone ought to think about this because if you hold everyone else liable, you can’t give them a pass. It may be a while before the laws catch up to the reality of the market.

If you have been involved in a motorcycle accident and you were on one of these cheap motorcycles, you should contact an attorney experienced with Texas vehicle accident law. The vehicle accident lawyers at Cappolino Dodd Krebs LLP have over 80 years of experience and can help you with professional insight.