Texas jury decides on $12 million judgment in faulty tire case

A jury recently decided on a judgment of nearly $12 million against Michelin, the nation’s largest tire maker, after one of the company’s Goodrich tires proved defective and was responsible for an accident that killed a family of six people and paralyzed a seventh, 12-year old Jesus Guzman.

During the crash, which occurred on New Year’s Eve in 2006 near Matamoros, Texas, one of the tires on the Guzman family’s 2002 Ford F-250 pick-up truck separated from its tread. This caused the truck to swerve into oncoming traffic and the family’s fatal collision with a Chevrolet Suburban. Six of the Guzman family members were killed andJesus, then only 10-years old, was left paralyzed after the accident.

Michelin North America, based in South Carolina, argued that the Guzman family’s truck had structural problems with the bumper, however the attorneys for the Guzman family, as well as the family traveling in the Suburban, contested that problems with the manufacturing plant had led to the mass production of defective tires. The plant, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, had a leaky roof that was damaging production machinery. Michelin had repaired the in 2004, however prior to that, hundreds of tires had been produced and distributed, including the one that caused the Guzman family’s fatal accident.

The $11.96 million settlement will go toward Jesus Guzman’s recovery and treatments.