Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Battle

• Decision Date: 01 January 1988
• Citation: 745 S.W.2d 909
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 909

745 S.W.2d 909

Prod.Liab.Rep. (CCH) P 11,703

FIRESTONE TIRE & RUBBER CO., Appellant v Robert BATTLE, Appellee.

No. 01-87-000241-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas,

Houston (1st Dist.).

Michael S. Goldberg, Houston, John C. Niemeyer, Oklahoma City, for appellant.

John Roberson, Graham Hill, Ron Franklin, Houston, for Robert Battle.

Otway B. Denny, Jr., Sarah B. Duncan, Houston, for General Motors Corp. and Chuck Davis Chevrolet, Inc.

Before EVANS, C.J., and SAM BASS and DUGGAN, JJ.

EVANS, Chief Justice.

This is a products liability case based on a tire manufacturer's alleged failure to adequately warn of the dangers associated with centrifugal force tire explosions.

On the day of the accident, Odell Dixon was backing his Chevrolet Camaro automobile out of his driveway when the right rear wheel went off the driveway and into a culvert. The automobile was resting on its rear axle with its left rear wheel on the driveway and the right rear wheel suspended over the culvert. Dixon flagged down a passing garbage truck, and three members of its crew, including the appellee, Robert Battle, volunteered to help Dixon move his automobile. Dixon got into the driver's seat and started to accelerate the engine while the three men at the rear of the vehicle tried to lift and push the car back onto the driveway. Within a matter of seconds, the right rear tire exploded, shattering the front windshield and ripping out the right rear fender of Dixon's car. Battle, who had placed his hands under the right rear wheel well, was knocked several feet backward and suffered severe injuries to his left wrist and forearm. He was immediately taken to a hospital, where the physicians decided to attempt reconstructive surgery rather than amputate. After nine operations, Battle was left with a permanently disabled and disfigured hand.

Battle sued the tire manufacturer, Firestone Tire & Rubber Company; the automobile driver, Odell Dixon; the automobile manufacturer, General Motors Corporation; and the automobile dealer-seller, Chuck Davis Chevrolet, Inc. Battle non-suited Dixon and General Motors before trial and proceeded to trial against the remaining defendants, Firestone and Chuck Davis. Battle presented evidence only with respect to his product liability claim against Firestone, and at the conclusion of the evidence, the trial court rendered a take-nothing judgment in favor of Chuck Davis. The jury answered all liability issues and the actual damage issues in favor of Battle. On the jury's verdict, the trial court entered judgment against Firestone for the sum of $579,000, plus prejudgment interest. The jury did not find that Firestone's actions constituted "conscious indifference," and it made no award of exemplary damages.

In nine points of error, Firestone contends that the trial court committed reversible error in admitting certain testimony into evidence, in refusing to submit certain special issues, and in exerting undue pressure on the jury to reach a verdict. Firestone also challenges the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury's findings (1) that Firestone's failure to warn was a producing cause of the occurrence, (2) that such failure rendered the tire unreasonably dangerous, and (3) that the appellee sustained damages in the amount of $579,000.

One of the principal issues raised at trial was whether Firestone's tire disintegrated as a result of a "centrifugal force explosion" or as a result of some other cause. According to the expert testimony, a centrifugal force explosion occurs when a revolving mass spins so rapidly that centrifugal force causes the matter to explode. It is a "very basic force" in a rotating body. The force "tends to move things away from the center of rotation" so that when an object spins at very high speeds, "there comes a point when it will disintegrate." This centrifugal force phenomenon, sometimes called "spin break," can occur when there is a rapid acceleration of a free-spinning automobile tire. Thus, on a car equipped with an automatic transmission with a slip differential, when one wheel is suspended so that the wheel is "free-spinning," and the other wheel is held stationary by the weight of the car, the differential may direct full force to the free-spinning wheel. When the engine is accelerated so that the velocity of the spinning wheel is increased, the wheel may turn at a speed twice that registered on the speedometer. Under such circumstances, it is possible for the free-spinning tire, within a matter of seconds, to reach such a speed that centrifugal force causes it to explode. According to one witness' estimate, Firestone's tire exploded within 5 to 10 seconds of the acceleration of the automobile's engine.

Firestone first contends that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting the testimony of Tammy Newbolt, whom Battle called as a witness to testify about a similar "spin break" experience involving a Firestone tire. Ms. Newbolt testified that about a year before Battle's accident, she had been a passenger in an automobile that slid off the road and onto some wet grass. The driver could not get traction because the right rear tire, manufactured by Firestone, was spinning on the wet grass. Newbolt got out of the car and tried to push, while the driver accelerated the engine. The right rear tire suddenly exploded, and Newbolt, who was standing about two feet away, sustained serious injuries to her face, chest, and leg. She ultimately filed suit against Firestone to recover damages for her injuries.

Although Firestone concedes that Newbolt's accident resulted from a "spin break" explosion, it argues that the probative value of her testimony was substantially outweighed by the unfair prejudice and misleading nature of her testimony. In effect, Firestone claims that Newbolt's testimony so colored and clouded the jury's thinking that they were led to disregard the "obvious flaws" in Battle's theory of the case. Firestone argues that the trial court's admission of Newbolt's testimony was erroneous and that this error was so harmful that reversal is required.

Firestone contends that Newbolt's testimony was unnecessary because (1) her accident was included on a list of five previous accidents known to Firestone and introduced into evidence by Battle after Newbolt testified and (2) Firestone had admitted that it knew of the existence of her accident and other prior "spin break" accidents.

We overrule Firestone's contention. Newbolt's testimony was relevant to the question of whether a spin break explosion would necessarily be preceded by loud noise and vibration and could only occur if the tire was spinning between 250 and 300 miles per hour. Firestone's position, supported by expert testimony, was that prior to a spin break explosion there would necessarily be an extreme "ear shattering" roar and intense shaking of the vehicle. Firestone's expert testimony also tended to show that an explosion would not occur unless the tire was spinning at an extremely high speed, between 250 and 300 miles per hour. Battle's witnesses at the scene of the accident testified that these events did not occur. This testimony tended to support Firestone's theory that the explosion could only have been the result of a spark of static electricity, which ignited some gas or vapor within the tire. But Newbolt testified that before the explosion of the tire that caused her injury, the tire was not spinning at excessive speeds and that she had not heard any extreme noise or observed severe vibrations in the car. Thus, Newbolt's testimony was most important to Battle's case because Firestone admitted that Newbolt's accident was definitely the result of a "spin break" explosion. Her testimony also tended to support Battle's witnesses' eyewitness testimony that the explosion occurred in a matter of seconds and was not preceded by extreme noise or vibrations, and in that respect, her testimony was also relevant on the issue of whether Battle was contributorily negligent in standing near the spinning tire just prior to the explosion.

Newbolt's testimony was also probative of the fact that Firestone knew about the dangerous condition of "spin break," and on the issue of whether Firestone gave its users adequate warning of such danger. Although Newbolt was questioned extensively about her injuries, we conclude that the nature of the accident and the severity of her injuries were circumstances that the jury was entitled to consider in deciding whether Firestone had failed to take appropriate steps to warn a tire user that the product could be unreasonably dangerous.

Evidence of a prior accident is admissible to evaluate the magnitude of the risk of the product hazard. Jackson v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., 788 F.2d 1070, 1083 (5th Cir.1986). Battle was entitled to prove the circumstances of Newbolt's accident, including the severity of her injury, so that the jury could assess the seriousness of the danger in determining whether Firestone had failed to issue an adequate warning of such danger. The evidence was also admissible on the issue of Firestone's alleged conscious indifference in failing to issue an adequate warning to users of its products after all the facts were known.

Battle further contends, and we agree, that Newbolt's testimony was relevant on the issue of whether Firestone was guilty of conscious indifference in its failure to issue warnings of the known danger. Evidence of a prior accident is usually admissible to prove knowledge of a dangerous condition, which may serve as a basis for an award of exemplary damages. See Soden v. Freightliner Corp., 714 F.2d 498, 508 (5th Cir.1983).

We hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting Newbolt's testimony and in deciding that the relevancy of such evidence was not substantially outweighed by the risk of unfair prejudice and confusion. Tex.R.Evid. 403.

We further hold that the...