Caiazzo v. VOLKSWAGENWERK, AG

• Decision Date: 19 March 1979
• Docket Number: No. 73 C 1277.,73 C 1277.
• Citation: 468 F. Supp. 593
• Parties: Turi CAIAZZO and Frank Caiazzo, Plaintiffs, v. VOLKSWAGENWERK, A. G., and James Valentine, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

468 F. Supp. 593

Turi CAIAZZO and Frank Caiazzo, Plaintiffs, v. VOLKSWAGENWERK, A. G., and James Valentine, Defendants.

No. 73 C 1277.

United States District Court, E. D. New York.

March 19, 1979.

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Jay W. Dankner, New York City (Lipsig, Sullivan, Mollen & Liapakis, P.C., New York City, of counsel), for plaintiffs.

Edward L. Birnbaum, New York City (Herzfeld & Rubin, P.C., Michael Hoenig and Jeffrey L. Chase, New York City, of counsel), for defendant Volkswagenwerk A. G.

John V. Griffin, Jr., Merrick (Curtis, Hart & Zaklukiewicz, Merrick, of counsel), for defendant Valentine.

MEMORANDUM and ORDER

DOOLING, District Judge.

On January 17, 1972, plaintiffs husband and wife were driving westbound on the Long Island Expressway enroute from East Quogue to Pelham in their 1965 Volkswagen Minibus, and defendant Valentine, overtaking them in his 1963 Oldsmobile, struck the Volkswagen Minibus in the rear; the minibus swerved to the right, rolled over and finally came to rest facing east just off the right side of the expressway. Plaintiffs, in one action, sued Valentine, alleging his negligent operation of his vehicle, and also Volkswagenwerk, A. G. (hereafter VWAG), claiming, inter alia, that the inner door latch handle and the outside handle of the Volkswagen were defective in design so that in the course of the accident the doors were opened resulting in enhanced injury to plaintiffs over and above the injuries they would have sustained but for the allegedly defective door latch mechanisms. After a jury trial the case was submitted to the jury on twenty-five interrogatories and the jury found that the defendant Valentine was driving negligently, that his negligence caused the accident, that the plaintiffs were not driving negligently at any time, that the design and positioning of the outside and inside door handles were defective, that both plaintiffs had been ejected from the Volkswagen in the course of the accident by reason of the defective design of the inside and outside door handles, that the injuries of both plaintiffs in the accident were definitely aggravated beyond the injuries they would have sustained if there had been no design defect, that (disregarding the seat belt matter) neither plaintiff could by the exercise of reasonable care have averted the aggravation of injury caused by the design defect, that VWAG was negligent in the design of the door handles and their positioning and such negligence resulted in the design defect, that the whole amount of the plaintiff Turi Caiazzo's damages was $750,000, the whole amount of Frank Caiazzo's damages was $200,000, that reasonably prudent persons in plaintiffs' circumstances would have been using the seat belts at the time of the accident and that if plaintiff Turi Caiazzo had been using her seat belt her damages would have been prevented to the extent of $187,500 and that had plaintiff Frank Caiazzo been using his seat belt his damages would have been prevented to the extent of $50,000. The jury found that Turi Caiazzo's injuries were aggravated by reason of the design defect in the bus beyond the injuries she would have sustained if there had been no defect to the extent of $500,000 and that her husband's injuries were so aggravated by reason of the design defect to the extent of $150,000. The jury concluded that plaintiff Turi Caiazzo's injuries due to the design defect would have been prevented by the use of her seat belt to the extent of $125,000, and Frank Caiazzo's damages due to the defect would have been prevented by the use of his seat belt to the extent of $37,500. The jury concluded finally that use of the seat belt would not in the case of either plaintiff have prevented that plaintiff from sustaining all of the aggravation of injuries sustained by reason of the defect in door design. In sum, the jury concluded that Turi Caiazzo was entitled to recover $562,500 against defendant Valentine and $375,000 against defendant VWAG (plaintiff being entitled of course only to satisfactions aggregating $562,500), and the jury awarded plaintiff Frank Caiazzo $150,000 against defendant Valentine and $112,500 against defendant VWAG (plaintiff being entitled only to satisfactions aggregating $150,000).

Defendant VWAG has moved, or renewed motions appropriately made and reserved during and at the close of the trial, for a directed verdict in its favor, or, alternatively for a new trial on the ground that the verdicts are contrary to and against the weight of the evidence, and, finally, setting the verdicts aside on the ground that they are excessive in amount and were rendered under the influence of passion and prejudice. Defendant Valentine has moved for a directed verdict on the ground that negligence on his part and freedom from contributory negligence on plaintiffs' part was not shown, and, in the alternative, for a finding that defendant Valentine should recover over against VWAG for so much of the verdict against Valentine as equals the amount found against VWAG as aggravation of the injuries beyond those which would have been sustained had the VW not been found defective. Defendant Valentine has moved further for a new trial on the ground that the verdict is contrary to law, contrary to the weight of the evidence, and grossly excessive and unreasonable in amount, and on the further ground that the reduction in the aggregate verdict based on the failure of the plaintiffs to wear seat belts was grossly inadequate and was contrary to the Court's instructions. Defendant Valentine moves also on the ground that plaintiff's counsel misstated the nature of the plea of guilty that the defendant Valentine entered to the traffic charge made against him in consequence of the accident.

The argument on the motions has ranged over a very wide field and, in line with the objections and arguments made during the trial, brings up the practical applications of many points often discussed in the lore of strict liability and of the "second collision." To deal adequately with the points made by the motions it is necessary to state in some detail that evidence which the jury might have drawn upon in arriving at its verdict, that is, to state the evidence that tends to the support of the verdict.

Detailed discussion of evidence omitted.

Proximate cause. — That all the damage the plaintiffs sustained (other than the damage that could have been averted by wearing seat belts) was a proximate consequence of Valentine's negligent driving is self-evident. The substantial questions relate to determining whether the evidence supports the jury's conclusion that two thirds of Turi Caiazzo's injury and damage and three quarters of Frank Caiazzo's injury and damage were proximate consequences of the defect in door handle design and positioning — except to the extent that they could have been averted by wearing seat belts.

Some injury to each plaintiff was implicit in their both being thrown from the van; that immediate inference the jury could not avoid. Plaintiffs' medical witness made no attempt to say how much of each plaintiff's physical injury was due to being thrown from the van as distinguished from being injured inside the van, but he did express the opinion that a substantial rear end impact on the van could result in injuries to plaintiff Turi Caiazzo's feet from entanglement in the floor pedals. Defendant's expert testified in substance that even belted riders in a van could sustain crushed skulls in rollover collision; neither he nor any other witness distinctly testified that such belting either would or would not have prevented distinctly identifiable injuries due to the opening of the doors. No expert testimony sought to quantify by fractions or percentages the distribution of injury and damage over possible causes and possible preventives.

An allocation of the kind which the jury made in the present case does not reveal its logic, and cannot be pinned to specific items of evidence. It is in the nature of the jury as an institution that its verdicts must remain inscrutable in cases of the present sort.

Taking first the seat belt factor as it affected the defendant Valentine: the finding that use of the seat belts would have averted one-quarter of the injury and damage to each plaintiff was appropriate. The jury had to determine the issue, on which Valentine had the burden of proof, as well as it could from the evidence. It had to decide whether the injuries of the plaintiffs would have been the same or more or less if they had worn their seat belts, and then the jury had to quantify it. It is not possible to say that no view of the evidence which the jury could reasonably take would support its conclusion that use of the seat belts would have prevented a quarter of the damage sustained by each plaintiff. Where the evidence could not be specific and was not, the jury used a reasonable estimate.

The necessary terms of VWAG's contentions do not separate the matter of the damages due to the door latch defect from the effect of the failure to wear seat belts. Indeed, the argument against the jury's allocation of the greater part of the total damage to plaintiffs' being thrown from the van extends to criticism of the jury's refusal to treat the seat belt availability as neutralizing the door defect. The jury reasonably found that the greater part of plaintiffs' injuries were sustained because they were thrown from the van, and that using the seat belts would have prevented each plaintiff from sustaining one-quarter of the injuries sustained by reason of the design defect in the doors. The jury could infer from the evidence that in a rollover in which the doors opened the plaintiffs' heads could have been dashed against the ground in the course of the rollover, or that other injuries could have been sustained through the wrenching and twisting of their upper bodies in the course of the rollover under the...