[Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
I was working on a case just now regarding Jury instructions, and looky what I found:
Chellman v. Saab-Scania AB
138 N.H. 73, 637 A.2d 148
N.H.,1993.
*76 The automobile accident giving rise to this action occurred in April 1985 when Chester Chellman took his brother-in-law for a ride in his new Saab 900 Turbo SPG on Canaan Road in Tuftonboro. After rounding a curve, Chellman saw a woman walking her dog in the road ahead of him. As he began to slow down and move to the left side of the road to avoid her, his car went out of control and off the road onto a sandy shoulder. When Chellman attempted to steer the car back onto the road, it “tripped” on the edge of the pavement and rolled, side over side, several times. The driver-side door opened during the rollover, and when the car came to rest, Chellman was outside of the car with his seat belt pulled out of the retraction device but still strapped around him. He was seriously injured in the accident.
At trial, the plaintiffs raised the issue of warning both as to the handling characteristic known as “throttle down oversteer” or “tuck in,” and as to the recommendation in the Saab owner's manual that the doors should not be locked during operation. The plaintiffs' expert witness testified that the “tuck in” phenomenon was a design defect of the plaintiffs' car about which the manufacturer should have advised and instructed consumers such as the plaintiffs. The expert also testified that the door latch would not have opened during the rollover if the door had been locked, and the plaintiffs introduced an exhibit showing Saab's recommendation in the owner's manual not to lock the doors while driving the car. The defendants' expert witness also addressed the Saab owner's manual recommendation not to lock the doors while driving. Therefore, both factual questions relating to Saab's failure to warn were presented to the jury during trial.
Upshoot: Case remanded for failure of court to issue failure to warn instruction.
PS: I don't know what years were involved but I usually locked my doors as I drove the streets of NH. I'll bet SAAB doesn't want too many people knowing about that, but then again as some of you well know, part of my mission in life is to expose those things that corporations don't want exposed, regardless of whether I like said corporation or not. :)
posted by 24.98.11...
, Sat, 6 Dec 2008 12:39:40
, Sat, 6 Dec 2008 13:32:13, Tue, 9 Dec 2008 10:47:01
, Sat, 6 Dec 2008 10:22:24, Sat, 6 Dec 2008 07:31:14
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
