Murphy v. Nissan Motor Corp. in USA

• Decision Date: 07 January 1987
• Docket Number: No. 84CV4556.,84CV4556.
• Citation: 650 F. Supp. 922
• Parties: Maura Ann MURPHY, Plaintiff, v. NISSAN MOTOR CORPORATION IN U.S.A., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

650 F. Supp. 922

Maura Ann MURPHY, Plaintiff, v. NISSAN MOTOR CORPORATION IN U.S.A., Defendant.

No. 84CV4556.

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

January 7, 1987.

Richard McGowan, Paul D. Rheingold, P.C., New York City, for plaintiff.

James P. Barrett, Deborah M. Reyher, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, New York City, for defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

KORMAN, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Maura Ann Murphy, was a passenger in a 1983 Nissan Sentra automobile which crashed head-on into a tree, leaving her a paraplegic. At the time of the accident plaintiff's seat was fully reclined and she was not wearing a seat belt. In this action against Nissan Motor Corporation In U.S.A. ("Nissan"), in which jurisdiction is predicated on diversity of citizenship, plaintiff alleges, inter alia, that the automobile manufactured by Nissan was a defectively designed product because the automobile's seat belts were ineffective when the passenger seat was in a fully reclined position. Plaintiff claims that it was unreasonably dangerous for defendant not to take safety measures in addition to providing seat belts, such as eliminating reclining seats, providing audible warnings when the automobile was operated with the seats reclined or providing airbags.

Plaintiff's interrogatories sought discovery of, inter alia, information relating to her claim that airbags were a design alternative available to defendant. After defendant objected to these interrogatories, plaintiff sought an order from the Magistrate to compel discovery. Defendant then moved for partial summary judgment on what it characterizes as plaintiff's "airbag claim." Although labeled as a motion for partial summary judgment, defendant's motion may be more accurately characterized as a motion in limine to preclude plaintiff from relying on the failure of defendant to install air bags on its 1983 Sentra.

Defendant advances two principal arguments in support of its motion. First, defendant argues that plaintiff's airbag claim is both expressly and impliedly preempted by the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966. Alternatively, defendant argues that plaintiff's airbag claim fails to state a cause of action under New York law.

Defendant's motion is denied. Plaintiff's claim is not preempted because the provisions of New York common law invoked by plaintiff are neither expressly preempted by federal law nor in conflict with federal law. Further, plaintiff's claim states a cause of action under well established principles of New York products liability law.

I. The Statutory and Regulatory Frame-work

In 1966, acting on "the conviction ... that the soaring rate of death and debilitation on the nation's highways is not inexorable," S.Rep. No. 1301, 89th Cong., 2d Sess., reprinted in 1966 U.S. Code Cong. & Ad. News 2709, Congress enacted the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 (the "Act"). The Act attempts to increase automotive safety in a number of ways. First, the Act provides for research, testing and training in traffic safety. 15 U.S.C. § 1395. Second, the Act requires manufacturers to notify the public of automotive defects relating to safety and to repair such defects. 15 U.S.C. §§ 1411-19. Third, the Act provides for the promulgation of "Federal motor vehicle safety standards" by the Department of Transportation and prohibits the manufacture for sale or sale of motor vehicle equipment that fails to comply with such standards. 15 U.S.C. §§ 1392, 1394, 1396, 1397. Enforcement is provided for by means of civil penalties and actions for injuctive relief by the United States. 15 U.S.C. §§ 1398-99. To aid enforcement manufacturers are required to supply the Department of Transportation with certain information and the Department is authorized to undertake investigations. 15 U.S.C. § 1401.

In 1984 the Department of Transportation promulgated a safety standard relating to passenger restraints pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1392. 49 Fed.Reg. 28,962 (July 17, 1984), codified at 49 C.F.R. § 571.208 (1985) ("standard 208").¹ The provisions of standard 208 applicable to 1983 model year automobiles give manufacturers three options for complying with minimum safety standards for passenger restraints. First, manufacturers may provide passive restraints, such as airbags, for the front outside seats in conjunction with seat belts for the front center and rear seats. 49 C.F.R. § 571.208.S4.1.2.1 (1985). Second, manufacturers may utilize a combination of passive restraints, detachable shoulder harnesses, lap belts and warning systems. 49 C.F.R. § 571.208.S4.1.2.2 (1985). Third, manufacturers may provide a combination of lap belts, nondetachable shoulder harnesses and warning systems. 49 C.F.R. § 571.208.S4.1.2.3 (1985).

Standard 208 provides for the gradual phasing in of the requirement of passive restraints in passenger automobiles. 49 C.F.R. § 571.208.S4.1.3 (1985). Passenger automobiles manufactured after September 1, 1989 are required to have passive restraints, 49 C.F.R. § 571.208.S4.1.4 (1985), unless two thirds of the United States' population is subject to state mandatory seat belt laws by April 1, 1989. 49 C.F.R. § 571.208.S4.1.5 (1985).

II. Defendant's Express Preemption Argument

Defendant's express preemption argument is premised on 15 U.S.C. § 1392(d), which provides in pertinent part:

Whenever a Federal motor vehicle safety standard established under this subchapter is in effect, no State or political subdivision of a State shall have any authority either to establish, or to continue in effect, with respect to any motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment any safety standard applicable to the same aspect of performance of such vehicle or item of equipment which is not identical to the Federal standard....

Defendant argues that plaintiff's airbag claim is a "nonidentical state safety standard" because it requires defendant to install airbags in order to avoid civil liablity whereas standard 208 does not require manufacturers to install airbags. Because it is a safety standard which is not identical to standard 208, defendant argues, plaintiff's cause of action is expressly preempted by section 1392(d).

The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has construed section 1392(d) to preempt

state regulation of an item of motor vehicle equipment ... only if the following factors appear in combination: (1) a federal standard in effect which covers that item of equipment; (2) a state safety standard ... for the item which is not identical to the federal standard; and (3) application of the state and federal regulations to "the same aspect of performance" of the item of equipment. Chrysler Corp. v. Tofany, 419 F.2d 499, 506 (2d Cir.1969).

Restated in terms of the formulation in Tofany,² defendant's position is that (1) federal standard 208 regulates passenger restraints (the "item of equipment") and does not require the installation of airbags; (2) state tort law regulates passenger restraints in a nonidentical fashion by requiring defendant to install airbags to avoid civil liability; and (3) both state and federal law regulate the same aspect of performance.

The flaw in defendant's position is the assumption that the benefits of New York law plaintiff seeks to invoke regulate or require passenger restraints. Plaintiff's cause of action does not turn on the failure of defendant to install airbags or any other passenger restraints. On the contrary, plaintiff alleges only that the 1983 Sentra was defectively designed because it had reclining seats which rendered the seat belts ineffective when used in a reclining position. Plaintiff alleges that this condition made the automobile unreasonably dangerous. Under New York law, plaintiff's cause of action turns on the showing that defendant had the choice of utilizing any one of the allegedly safer alternative designs suggested by plaintiff in connection with reclining seats, such as safety interlocks, warning systems or airbags, or alternatively, foregoing the use of reclining seats if it chooses not to adopt any of these alternatives.³ Because defendant's liability is predicated on its alleged failure to manufacture a reasonably safe vehicle, rather than its failure to install airbags, the second condition required by Tofany is not present and plaintiff's claim is therefore not preempted by section 1392(d).

Defendant's express preemption argument also rests on the erroneous assumption that section 1392(d) preempts safety standards imposed by state common law as well as those imposed by state statutes and regulations. Neither section 1392(d) nor section 1391(2), which defines "Motor Vehicle Safety Standards," however, expressly include state common law within their scope.⁴ Given the presumption against preemption, see, e.g., Maryland v. Louisiana, 451 U.S. 725, 746, 101 S.Ct. 2114, 2128, 68 L.Ed.2d 576 (1981), there is no basis for inferring that Congress intended section 1392(d), in the absence of such reference, to preempt state common law. Baird v. General Motors Corp., 654 F.Supp. 28, 30 (N.D.Ohio 1986) (construing section 1392(d)). Cf. Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc., 789 F.2d 181, 185-86 (3d Cir.1986) (construing preemption provision of the Federal Cigarette and Advertising Labelling Act); Palmer v. Liggett Group, Inc., 633 F.Supp. 1171, 1174 (D.Mass.1986) (same). Thus, even if plaintiff's claim and standard 208 regulate the same aspect of performance of the same item of equipment, section 1392(d) does not expressly preempt plaintiff's claim.

Moreover, even if the preemptive language of section 1392(d) is considered broad enough to include state common law claims, 15 U.S.C. § 1397(c) expressly preserves such common law causes of action. Section 1397(c) provides that "compliance with any Federal motor vehicle safety standard issued under this subchapter does not exempt any person from any liability under common law." Thus, section 1397(c) on its face preserves plaintiff's...