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Torts Keyed to Henderson
Jae Kim v. Toyota Motor Corporation
Citation:
6 Cal.5th 21, 424 P.3d 290, 237 Cal.Rptr.3d 205 (2018)Facts
In April 2010, William Jae Kim was driving his 2005 Toyota Tundra pickup truck on Angeles Forest Highway during rainy conditions. While descending on a curve at approximately 45-50 mph, Kim claims a vehicle from the opposite direction crossed into his lane. Kim attempted three steering maneuvers that resulted in him losing control of the vehicle. The truck ran off the road and down a cliff, causing Kim to suffer serious neck and spinal cord injuries that rendered him quadriplegic.
Kim and his wife sued Toyota for strict products liability, alleging that the 2005 Toyota Tundra was defectively designed because it lacked Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) as standard equipment. At the time, Toyota offered VSC on the Tundra only as part of an optional package. The Kims argued that VSC would have prevented the accident and that the benefits of including VSC as standard equipment outweighed the risks of its omission.
At trial, both parties introduced evidence about industry custom and practice regarding VSC in pickup trucks. The Kims elicited testimony that Toyota had made VSC standard in some SUVs but not pickup trucks, despite an engineer’s recommendation. Toyota presented evidence that no manufacturer offered VSC as standard equipment in pickup trucks at that time, and that the 2005 Tundra was the first pickup truck to even offer VSC as optional equipment. The jury found that the 2005 Toyota Tundra did not have a design defect.
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