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Products Liability Keyed Owen, 8th Ed.
Burgos v. Lutz
Citation:
128 A.D.2d 496 (1987)Facts
The plaintiff’s decedent was killed while driving a Honda Civic 1200 when he made a left turn at an intersection and his car was struck by an oncoming Ford LTD. The decedent suffered a transection of his thoracic aorta and died instantly. The plaintiff brought action against Honda alleging defective design of the steering column and seatbelt system. For the seatbelt claim, plaintiff’s expert testified that the locking device performed erratically upon inspection, but failed to establish this was due to design or that an alternative safer design existed. No evidence established the decedent was wearing his seatbelt at the time of collision. Regarding the steering column, while the plaintiff’s expert testified about an alternative energy absorption system, they failed to explain how the proposed design would have prevented the decedent’s injuries in this specific collision or absorbed more energy than Honda’s design.
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