Jones v Ford Motor Co., 010136

• Decision Date: 02 March 2001
• Docket Number: 010136
• Citation: 263 Va. 237
• Parties: MARGARET JONES v. FORD MOTOR COMPANY RecordSUPREME COURT OF VIRGINIA
• Court: Virginia Supreme Court

MARGARET JONES v FORD MOTOR COMPANY

Record No. 010136

SUPREME COURT OF VIRGINIA

March 1, 2002

FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF FAIRFAX COUNTY, M. Langhorne Keith, Judge

Present: All the Justices

OPINION BY JUSTICE LEROY R. HASSELL, SR.

In this appeal of a judgment entered in favor of an automobile manufacturer, the primary issue we consider is whether the manufacturer's purported judicial admission barred the plaintiff from presenting evidence that the manufacturer had notice of an alleged defective condition in an automobile.

I.

The plaintiff, Margaret Jones, filed her motion for judgment against Ford Motor Company (Ford) and Cherner Lincoln Mercury-Annandale, Inc. (Cherner Lincoln Mercury). She alleged that she and her husband purchased a 1991 Lincoln Town Car, manufactured by Ford, from Cherner Lincoln Mercury's predecessor in interest.

The plaintiff pled that she was injured when a defect in the cruise control system in her Lincoln Town Car made the car accelerate suddenly without warning, causing the car to travel out of control across a street and crash into a concrete stanchion. The plaintiff alleged, among other things, that Ford negligently designed the car's cruise control system, negligently failed to warn her that the Lincoln Town Car could accelerate suddenly, and breached certain warranties.

The plaintiff alleged that Cherner Lincoln Mercury breached its warranty of merchantability to her for the following reasons: the car was defectively designed because of defects in its throttle and cruise control systems, and the car was not adequately and properly tested for the purpose of determining whether a sudden unintended acceleration event was possible. Ford and Cherner Lincoln Mercury filed separate grounds of defense and denied any liability to the plaintiff.

The litigants filed numerous pretrial motions. Ford filed a motion in limine to exclude as evidence a study that Ford had commissioned, referred to as the Updegrove Study. Ford also filed motions in limine to exclude evidence of other accidents, incidents, complaints, and lawsuits. The plaintiff requested that the court permit her to use the depositions of a Virginia State Trooper and three United States Secret Service employees who had experienced unintended sudden acceleration events similar to the incident that she had experienced. These deponents were operating cars manufactured by Ford when the unintended sudden acceleration events occurred.

On the morning of trial, the plaintiff dismissed her cause of action against Cherner Lincoln Mercury. The circuit court permitted Ford to make a purported judicial admission that it had "[n]otice that there were sudden acceleration incidents in cars equipped with stand-alone cruise-control systems." Once Ford made this purported judicial admission, the circuit court ruled that the plaintiff could not use the depositions of the United States Secret Service employees, the State Trooper, or any information contained in the Updegrove Study. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Ford. The plaintiff appeals.

II.

In 1991, the plaintiff and her husband purchased a 1991 Lincoln Town Car, manufactured by Ford. The car was equipped with a cruise control system. On February 3, 1998, the plaintiff and her husband took the car to a gasoline station near their home in Spotsylvania County. The plaintiff's husband, who drove the car to the gasoline station, got out of the car, pumped gasoline, and went inside the station to pay the attendant.

The plaintiff, who had been seated in the front passenger seat of the Lincoln Town Car, noticed a truck. She "got the impression" that the truck driver wanted to leave the gasoline station parking lot. Her car was "blocking him in," so she decided to move the car in reverse about seven to ten feet and stop so that the truck driver could exit.

The plaintiff moved "over into the front seat, the driver's side." She stated: "And I sat there for a few minutes - seconds, I guess, and made sure that I was square in the seat. . . . So then I took and proceeded to start the car. And I had my foot on the brake and - very lightly. And then I took and started the car. And then I pulled it into reverse. And at that moment that car took off like you wouldn't believe. And it crossed over four lanes of traffic and into the little mini mall where I hit a cement light pole, and that stopped the car." The plaintiff testified that when she shifted the car from park to reverse, she kept her foot on the brake pedal.

The plaintiff remembered "being tossed around in the car," and she had a large "gash" on her head. She stated that "I had broken my hand and . . . my back." As a result of injuries she received in the accident, the plaintiff was "paralyzed from [her] breasts down."

Victor J. DeClercq, who had been employed with Ford for approximately 28 years and served as its corporate representative at trial, qualified as an expert witness. He testified as follows. There are only two ways to control the speed of a car: use of the cruise control system or physical application of the car's accelerator pedal.

The 1991 Lincoln Town Car was manufactured with an automatic transmission and was equipped with a cruise control system, also referred to as a "speed control" system. The cruise control system maintains a speed selected by the driver of the car when the system is activated. When the driver of a Lincoln Town Car activates its cruise control system, a canister, referred to as a servo, is either filled with or relieved of vacuum pressure from the engine. The pressure either pulls or releases a cable that controls the car's throttle.

The throttle controls the volume of intake air. The quantity of fuel and air that enters the combustion chamber determines the engine speed and engine power. The throttle either reduces or increases the speed of the engine. The throttle is connected to the accelerator pedal, commonly referred to as the gas pedal, by a throttle cable or linkage. When the driver of a car presses the accelerator pedal, that act causes the linkage to open the throttle, which in turn increases the engine speed.

The electronic cruise control system has several components, including the cruise control "off and on" switch, a "set acceleration" button, a "resume" button, and a "coast" button. Wires extend from the controls on the control panel to the speed amplifier. The speed amplifier is described as the "brains" of the system. Electronic components in the speed amplifier receive signals or impulses and interpret them. The speed amplifier emits electronic signals to the servo, which controls the throttle.

DeClercq testified that if the driver of a car applies the brake pedal, the cruise control system will disengage. The brake pedal emits a signal to the amplifier located within the servo, and the amplifier directs the throttle to close, thereby disengaging the cruise control. The driver of the car only needs to press the brake pedal about one-quarter of an inch to disengage the cruise control. According to DeClercq, if an accelerator pedal is pressed completely to the floor, the driver of the vehicle would still be able to stop the car by pressing the brake pedal because that act causes the wheels to stop turning.

Samuel K. Sero, who testified on behalf of the plaintiff, qualified as an expert witness on the subject of electrical engineering. He opined that the plaintiff's 1991 Lincoln Town Car suddenly accelerated without warning because of a defect in its cruise control system. He testified, just as DeClercq, that there are only two ways to control the speed of a car, the driver's application of the accelerator pedal and use of the cruise control system. Sero opined that the plaintiff's car suddenly accelerated because an instantaneous negative transient electrical signal was transmitted to the solenoids, which are in the servo. This transient electronic signal directed the cruise control system to open the throttle, causing the engine to accelerate rapidly. Sero stated that a transient signal will cause the cruise control to continue to operate until the servo receives a signal directing the servo to close the throttle, thereby slowing the car.

Sero testified that his review of Ford's documents indicated that Ford was aware of problems caused by negative transient electronic signals. He also testified that Ford did not perform any transient signal testing on the output of its cruise control system.

DeClercq contradicted Sero's testimony about the cause of the plaintiff's accident. DeClercq testified within a reasonable degree of engineering certainty that there was not a transient electronic signal in the cruise control system that caused the plaintiff's accident. He examined and performed tests on the plaintiff's Lincoln Town Car after the accident, and based upon his evaluation, examinations, and inspections, he opined that there were no defects in the electrical or cruise control systems.

DeClercq gave the following testimony without any objection from the plaintiff:

"Q: Do you have an opinion with reasonable engineering certainty as to whether or not this vehicle on the date of the accident could have accelerated in reverse if the plaintiff had applied the brake pedal?

"A: I have an opinion.

"Q: What is that?

"A: It could not have moved."

Lee Carr testified as an expert witness on behalf of Ford. He qualified as an expert witness on the subjects of automotive engineering, vehicle dynamics, and human behavior. He testified, without objection from the plaintiff, that the cause of the accident was "likely the driver, Mrs. Jones; [she] pushed on the throttle and mistakenly thought she was pushing on the brake, but wasn't. I believe the vehicle responded to that by doing what it was told to do, and it backed up, and it backed up at ever-increasing speed until it ran into a pole across the street from the gas station."

Robert Quinn...