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D'Amario v. Ford Motor Co.11/21/2001
ught in such cases "are not for injuries sustained in the original collision but for those sustained in the second impact where some design defect caused an exacerbated injury which would not have otherwise occurred as a result of the original collision." Meekins v. Ford Motor Co., 699 A.2d 339, 341 (Del. Super. Ct. 1997).
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals first recognized a cause of action against an automobile manufacturer for enhanced injuries caused by a defective product in Larsen v. General Motors Corp., 391 F.2d 495 (8th Cir. 1968). The Larsen court reasoned that " o rational basis exists for limiting recovery to situations where the defect in design or manufacture was the causative factor of the accident, as the accident and the resulting injury, usually caused by the so-called `second collision' of the passenger with the interior part of the automobile, all are foreseeable." Id. at 502. While the court acknowledged that an "automobile manufacturer is under no duty to design an accident-proof or fool-proof vehicle," it nevertheless concluded the following:
uch manufacturer is under a duty 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 a collision. Collisions with or without fault of the user are clearly foreseeable by the manufacturer and are statistically inevitable. Id.
Accordingly, the court held:
Any design defect not causing the accident would not subject the manufacturer to liability for the entire damage, but the manufacturer should be liable for that portion of the damage or injury caused by the defective design over and above the damage or injury that probably would have occurred as a result of the impact or collision absent the defective design. Id. at 502-03.
The ruling in Larsen recognizing a distinct cause of action against manufacturers for secondary collisions caused by defective products has subsequently received widespread approval throughout the country.
Florida adopted the principle of Larsen in Ford Motor Co. v. Evancho, 327 So. 2d 201, 202 (Fla. 1976), wherein we declared: "We hold that a manufacturer of automobiles may be held liable under certain conditions for a design or manufacturing defect which causes injury but is not the cause of the primary collision." See also Ford Motor Co. v. Hill, 404 So. 2d 1049, 1052 (Fla. 1981) (extending crashworthiness doctrine to cases sounding in strict liability as well as negligence).
However, while the crashworthiness doctrine is now well established in this state, it is not entirely clear whether or how the principles of comparative fault should apply in such cases. That is the issue presented in the two cases before us today.
D'Amario
In D'Amario, Clifford Harris, a minor, was injured when the car in which he was riding as a passenger collided with a tree and then burst into flames. The car was driven by a friend of Harris who was allegedly intoxicated and speeding at the time of the accident. As described in the opinion below:
A witness to the crash circled the car twice and noticed a fire in the engine area. Some minutes later, the fire spread and an explosion occurred, engulfing the car in flames. Harris was severely injured, losing three limbs and suffering burns to much of his body. D'Amario, 732 So. 2d at 1145.
Harris, and his mother, Karen D'Amario, sued Ford alleging that a defective relay switch in the automobile caused Harris's injuries. The plaintiffs did not seek damages against Ford for the injuries to Harris caused by the initial collision with the tree. Rather, they sought damages for the injurie
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