Higgs v. General Motors Corp., Civ. No. 3-84-431

• Decision Date: 09 December 1985
• Docket Number: 3-84-787.,Civ. No. 3-84-431
• Citation: 655 F. Supp. 22
• Parties: Wilbur HIGGS and Mary Higgs, Plaintiffs, v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, Defendants. David L. THOMAS, b/n/f and Natural Guardian Gordon Thomas and Gordon Thomas, Individually, Plaintiffs, v. SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. and Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Tennessee

655 F. Supp. 22

Wilbur HIGGS and Mary Higgs, Plaintiffs, v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, Defendants.

David L. THOMAS, b/n/f and Natural Guardian Gordon Thomas and Gordon Thomas, Individually, Plaintiffs, v. SUBARU OF AMERICA, INC. and Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd., Defendants.

Civ. Nos. 3-84-431, 3-84-787.

United States District Court, E.D. Tennessee, N.D.

December 9, 1985.

J. D. Lee, Knoxville, Tenn., for Higgs.

Sidney W. Gilreath, Knoxville, Tenn., for Thomas.

Robert Pennington, Madisonville, Tenn., for Thomas.

Robert R. Campbell, Knoxville, Tenn., for General Motors Corp.

Louis C. Woolf, Knoxville, Tenn., for Subaru of America, Inc. and Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd.

MEMORANDUM

JARVIS, District Judge.

These are products liability actions in which the plaintiffs seek damages for personal injuries and/or property damages as the result of automobile accidents. In the Higgs case, plaintiffs assert and allege that defendant's truck was defective and unreasonably dangerous because: (1) it had a defective steering column that was the proximate cause of plaintiffs' injuries; and (2) it was defective and unreasonably dangerous because it was not equipped with airbags which would have prevented, or at least mitigated, plaintiffs' injuries. In the Thomas case, plaintiffs' cause of action is based on allegations that the Subaru vehicle involved in that accident was defective and unreasonably dangerous because it, too, was not equipped with airbags. This matter is presently before the Court on motion of defendant General Motors Corporation for partial summary judgment in the Higgs case and on both defendants' motion for summary judgment in the Thomas case, alleging that the complaints fail to state a cause of action as a matter of law. In short, these defendants say that plaintiffs' claims that the subject vehicles did not contain airbags does not constitute either a design or manufacturing defect under Tennessee law upon which recovery can be based. Additionally, defendant Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd. "Fuji" has filed a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. However, these cases have only been consolidated for oral argument on the common issues of defendants' motions regarding airbags.

Facts

For purposes of this summary judgment motion, the facts are assumed to be as asserted by the plaintiffs. Windsor v. The Tennessean, 719 F.2d 155 (6th Cir.1983). In the Higgs case, plaintiffs allege that Wilbur Higgs "Higgs" was injured while driving a 1979 General Motors pick-up truck, which contained, as standard equipment, a three-point lap-shoulder safety belt for front outboard occupants, a lap belt for any central passenger, and warnings, including a red light on the instrument panel and an audible buzzer designed to encourage belt use. Doc. # 14, Exh. C. On August 9, 1982, Higgs, a 61-year-old veterinarian, was proceeding around a curve in his pick-up truck on Highway # 68 in Monroe County, Tennessee. He was traveling at approximately 45 to 50 m.p.h. when the truck's steering mechanism allegedly locked and the pick-up went off the road onto the right berm. He testified that while he was braking and in the process of gradually bringing his truck to a stop, the vehicle struck a hidden culvert, causing the steering to unlock. The truck then swerved back across the road and struck a tree. Higgs, who was not wearing his lap-shoulder belt, sustained two broken ribs and injuries to his neck and back. Id., Exh. D, pgs. 37-50.

In the Thomas case, the minor plaintiff alleges that he was injured in an automobile collision which occurred on October 22, 1983, in Blount County, Tennessee on Sevierville Pike near the intersection of Walnut Street. At the time of the accident, the minor plaintiff was driving a 1979 two-door Subaru. As a result of the accident, he was rendered a complete quadraplegic.

While all plaintiffs seek recovery under the doctrine of strict liability as set forth in § 402A of the Restatement of the Law of Torts,¹ the gravamen of plaintiffs' causes of action against the defendants are simply that the respective vehicles did not contain an airbag and, therefore, the vehicles are defective and unreasonably dangerous. Indeed, it makes no difference whether the complaint is couched in terms of negligence, strict liability or breach of warranty, it has generally been held in the State of Tennessee that in order for a plaintiff to recover under any theory of product liability, the plaintiff must establish that the product was defective and unreasonably dangerous at the time the product left the control of the manufacturer. See, e.g., Ellithorpe v. Ford Motor Company, 503 S.W.2d 516 (Tenn.1973).

It is the general contention of the plaintiffs that the subject vehicles were in a defective and unreasonably dangerous condition because they were incapable of providing reasonable protection to occupants during crashes. In short, plaintiffs allege that the vehicles are not "crashworthy" because they lacked adequate passive restraint systems. An automotive safety device is characterized as "passive" rather than "active" when it requires no independent action by occupants to render it effective. Occupants who are, for example, tired, distracted, lazy, absent minded or even inebriated, can remain "passive" and will have protection from foreseeable crashes as a result of the following components which are encompassed within the definition of "passive" restraint system: Padded and contoured interior surfaces, windshield, roof, seats, head restraints, arm rests, energy absorbing steering column, etc. On the other hand, "active" restraint systems include door locks and manually fastened seat belts.

Plaintiffs maintain that an especially effective component of passive restraint systems, if not the most effective component, which can be installed on automobiles is an "airbag" or "air cushion". An airbag remains concealed within the dashboard and steering column of an automobile until activated by impact, when it inflates to cushion vehicle occupants from the forces of the collision. The plaintiffs contend that airbags provide superior protection in front or front angle crashes, as were involved in the instant cases.

It is uncontroverted that the airbag controversy has existed for many years. A patent was issued for an automatically inflating safety cushion as early as the 1950's, and during the 1960's both the automotive industry and government worked on airbag research and product development. As a result, the Department of Transportation issued a standard that required installation of passive restraints in new automobiles in 1970. However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration "NHTSA" has expressly decided not to require airbags in automobiles as set forth in the most recent version of FMVSS 208. See, 49 Fed.Reg. 28962, 29000, 29008-09 (1984). Presently, airbags are only available to purchasers in rare instances, for example, in certain Mercedes Benzs. Otherwise, consumers do not have a choice if they want to order an automobile with an airbag or air cushion. However, the NHTSA has concluded that the three-point belt is more effective than an airbag alone and as effective as an airbag in combination with a lap belt. 49 Fed.Reg. 28962, 28985 (1984). Moreover, the NHTSA has concluded that the three-point belt provides the "quickest, least expensive way by far to significantly reduce fatalities and injuries". Id., at 28985, 28997. As stated earlier, the plaintiffs allege that the subject vehicles are not "crashworthy". This term refers to the relative ability of a vehicle to protect its occupants from injuries due to "second impact", which refers to the impact of occupants against objects inside or outside of a vehicle as a result of the vehicle's collision with another object. Higginbotham v. Ford Motor Company, 540 F.2d 762, 766 n. 4 (5th Cir.1976).

The landmark case that first announced the crashworthiness doctrine was Larsen v. General Motors Corporation, 391 F.2d 495 (8th Cir.1968). That court stated, "the sole function of an automobile is not just to provide a means of transportation, it is to provide a means of safe transportation or, as safe as is reasonably possible under the state of the art." Id., at 502. The Larsen court held that an automobile manufacturer is obligated "to use reasonable care in the design of its vehicle to avoid subjecting the user to an unreasonable risk of injury in the event of collision." Id. The Larsen court further concluded that:

We perceive of no sound reason, either in logic or experience, nor any command and precedent, why the manufacturer should not be held to a reasonable duty of care in the design of its vehicle consonant with the state of the art to minimize the effect of accidents. Manufacturers are not insurors, but should be held to a standard of reasonable care in design to provide a reasonably safe vehicle in which to travel.

Id., at 503.

The rationale of Larsen was fully embraced by the Tennessee Supreme Court in Ellithorpe, supra, 503 S.W.2d 516. However, the Court held in Ellithorpe that the "duty to minimize the harm of inevitable accidents by utilizing reasonably safe design ... does not require construction and design of an automobile that will be absolutely safe in a collision. Id., at 519.

This Court would note that the law of crashworthiness reflects that second collision liability has been most consistently recognized in cases involving an allegedly defective component which is itself the instrumentality causing the enhancement of the injury. This line of cases is exemplified by Larsen, supra, (rear displacement of steering assembly) and Ellithorpe, supra, (contact with prongs on horn button). Plaintiffs also cite other cases which fall into this category, such as Roberts v. May, 41...