Farner v. Paccar, Inc.

• Decision Date: 31 August 1977
• Docket Number: No. 76-1992,76-1992
• Citation: 562 F.2d 518
• Parties: 2 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 427 Jean FARNER, as Administratrix of the Estate of John W. Farner, Deceased, Appellee, v. PACCAR, INC., Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 518

562 F.2d 518

2 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 427

Jean FARNER, as Administratrix of the Estate of John W.

Farner, Deceased, Appellee, v. PACCAR, INC., Appellant.

No. 76-1992.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted April 14, 1977.

Decided Aug. 31, 1977.

David A. Gerdes, argued and made rebuttal, May, Adam, Gerdes & Thompson, Pierre, S. D., on briefs for appellant.

Charles Rick Johnson, Gregory, S. D., argued and filed brief for appellee.

Before HEANEY, ROSS and STEPHENSON, Circuit Judges.

HEANEY, Circuit Judge.

On March 14 or 15, 1971, John Farner and another truck driver left Huron, South Dakota, for Seattle, Washington, hauling a 40,000-pound load in a tractor trailer manufactured by Peterbilt Motors Company, a division of Paccar, Inc. While traveling west on Interstate 90 near Cle Elum, Washington, Farner's truck veered out of its lane and crashed into a concrete column between the east and westbound lanes at about 2:15 a. m. on March 17, 1971. Both men were killed instantly.

Jean Farner, the administratrix of the estate of her husband brought this wrongful death action against Paccar. ¹ She alleged that Paccar's negligence in the design, testing and manufacture of the tractor's "air leaf" suspension system was a proximate cause of her husband's death. Liability was also alleged on the ground that Paccar failed to give the decedent timely warning as to the unsafe condition of the suspension system, and on the theory of strict liability. The jury found for the plaintiff on the issue of negligence and for Paccar on the issue of strict liability. Paccar appeals. ²

I

Paccar contends that its motions for a directed verdict and for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, alternatively, for a new trial should have been granted because the plaintiff failed to prove the existence of a defect in the Farner truck, or that any such defect was the proximate cause of the accident. We disagree.

The standards for granting a motion for a directed verdict and for judgment notwithstanding the verdict are the same. Boyle v. Simon, 558 F.2d 896 (8th Cir. 1977); Compton v. United States, 377 F.2d 408, 411 (8th Cir. 1967). In either procedural context, we apply the federal test for sufficiency of the evidence set out by this Court in Polk v. Ford Motor Co., 529 F.2d 259, 267 (8th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 426 U.S. 907, 96 S.Ct. 2229, 48 L.Ed.2d 832 (1976), quoting Hanson v. Ford Motor Co., 278 F.2d 586, 596 (8th Cir. 1960): ³

(I)n passing upon the motion for judgment, the trial court and this court are (1) to consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs as the parties prevailing with the jury; (2) to assume that all conflicts in the evidence were resolved by the jury in favor of the plaintiffs; (3) to assume as proved all facts which plaintiffs' evidence tends to prove; (4) to give the plaintiffs the benefit of all favorable inferences which may reasonably be drawn from the facts proved; and (5) to deny the motion if, reviewing the evidence in this light, reasonable men could differ as to the conclusions to be drawn from it.

Since such motions deprive the plaintiff of a determination of the facts by a jury, they should be sparingly granted. Jeanes v. Milner, 428 F.2d 598, 601 (8th Cir. 1970).

Under South Dakota law, the plaintiff must first prove that the product was defective and that the defect existed at the time that the product left the hands of the manufacturer before there can be recovery under a negligence theory of products liability. Shaffer v. Honeywell, Inc., 249 N.W.2d 251, 256 (S.D.1976); Engberg v. Ford Motor Company, 87 S.D. 196, 201, 205 N.W.2d 104, 107 (1973). Paccar first contends that the existence of a defect must be established by direct evidence. This assertion is without merit. Under South Dakota law, as in other jurisdictions, proof of the existence of a defect may be made by direct or circumstantial evidence. See, e. g., Shaffer v. Honeywell, Inc., supra at 256; Lindsay v. McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Corporation, 460 F.2d 631, 638 n. 4 (8th Cir. 1972), and cases cited therein.

Paccar next contends that even if circumstantial evidence can support proof of a defect, there was insufficient circumstantial evidence here. Since Paccar does not dispute that the suspension system of the Farner truck was of the air leaf design, the only issue is whether that design was in fact defective. Under the air leaf system, both rear tandem axles of the truck tractor are connected on each side to leaf springs, which in turn are hooked at their front ends to the truck frame and at their back ends to rubber air bags which are attached to the truck frame. Since the springs are the only machine elements that keep the axles under the truck, they have to be highly reliable.

The plaintiff introduced testimony that more than fifty warranty claims for spring failure in air leaf trucks were received by Peterbilt during 1969 and 1970. ⁴ The receipt of these warranty claims led to a reassessment of the air leaf suspension system. In a series of three interoffice memoranda written in May and June, 1972, Donald L. Stephens, the Peterbilt engineer responsible for the design of the system, wrote that field observation and testing indicated that one brand of springs used "had extraordinary failure rates," as well as "substantial surface decarburization." The axle clamps were described as "grossly inadequate" or of "marginal design," with the result that springs could slip from their clamped position and affect load distribution among the springs. He also stated that all trucks, with the exception of some delivered to Eugene, Oregon, had not been adjusted to balance the load among the springs, with the attendant danger that "(a) misadjusted spring set (could) have (a) disasterously high preload on one spring." He noted that because of these problems, a campaign was underway to recall air leaf suspension trucks in order that some springs, axle clamps and U-bolts could be replaced; that the balance of the springs could be adjusted; and that the dual air valves previously used could be changed to single valves to decrease spring stress. A recall letter was received by the plaintiff sixteen months after the accident. ⁵

The plaintiff also introduced the testimony of several local truckers who had experienced spring failure. Dennis Kauer testified that in May, 1973, when he was driving a Peterbilt truck identical to the Farner vehicle and with a similar load, the right-hand spring connecting the forward rear tandem axle to the tractor frame broke. Kauer testified that the truck veered first toward the shoulder and then toward the center line. The breakage of the spring caused the axle to become freewheeling; and after the truck stopped, he noticed that the tires of the forward dual axle on the broken side had moved back until they were rubbing against the tires of the rear tandem axle. He further testified that after the spring broke, he noticed that two of the spring's three leaves had rusted cracks more than halfway to the center of the leaves. Richard Curtis testified to a similar spring failure and loss of vehicle control when driving a 1972 Peterbilt truck equipped with an air leaf suspension system. He testified that after the broken spring was replaced, his trucking firm installed chains around the axles of their Peterbilt trucks to hold the axle in place in the event of spring failure. His father, Robert Curtis, testified that several springs broke on his Peterbilt trucks prior to the installation of the safety chains, and that subsequent to this modification, another spring broke and the axle was held by the safety chain.

Farner purchased the truck in question as a new vehicle in March, 1970, from Sioux City Truck Sales in Sioux City, Iowa. Although the normal life of springs of the type on the Farner truck is five to six years, two springs broke during its first year of operation. At the time of the accident, the truck had been driven approximately 190,000 miles; thus, it was considered practically new by industry standards. There was evidence that Farner had many years of experience in the trucking business and carefully maintained his equipment. The wreck was not inspected for suspension system failure after the accident. ⁶

The only evidence introduced by Paccar which tended to directly negate the existence of a design defect was the testimony of a Peterbilt engineer that failure of air leaf suspension springs could be caused by operation on a rough road at high speeds, an overloaded condition or inadequate maintenance and alignment. We believe that the evidence, taken as a whole, sufficiently supports the inference that a design defect existed in the Farner truck and that this defect existed at the time that it left the hands of the manufacturer. ⁷

Paccar next contends that even if a defect in the truck was identified, there was insufficient evidence that this defect proximately caused the accident. It argues that since the accident could have resulted from other causes, such as sleep or inattention by the driver, a verdict in its favor should have been directed.

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and assuming that all conflicts in the evidence were resolved by the jury in the plaintiff's favor, we conclude that there was sufficient evidence from which the jury could have found that failure of the truck's spring suspension system was a proximate cause of the accident. There was testimony at trial that the tires on the tandem axles of the truck, as shown in a photograph taken after the accident, appeared to be touching and that this could have been due to spring failure. ⁸ The operator of the wrecker, who towed the truck from the scene, testified that the wreck was tracking off to one side, which could have been due to the wheels being out of alignment or the frame being bent. The cargo of the truck was thrown to the left upon impact,...