Case Title: Johnson v. American Motors Corporation

Citation: 225 N.W.2d 57

Docket Number: 9040, 9041

State: north-dakota

Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

Date: 1974-12-20T00:00:00Z

Document:
225 N.W.2d 57 (1974) Georgia Ann JOHNSON, a minor, by George B. Johnson and Agnes M. Johnson, guardians of the person of the said minor, Plaintiffs/Appellants, v. AMERICAN MOTORS CORPORATION, Defendant/Appellee. Fred LINGOHR et al., Plaintiffs/Appellants, v. AMERICAN MOTORS CORPORATION, Defendant/Appellee. Civ. Nos. 9040, 9041. Supreme Court of North Dakota. December 20, 1974. *58 *59 McGee, Hankla, Backes & Wheeler, Ltd., Minot, for plaintiffs/appellants George B. Johnson and Agnes M. Johnson. Tidball, Kemnitz, Axtmann & Lovald, Pierre, S. D., for plaintiffs/appellants Fred Lingohr and Catherine Lingohr. Pringle & Herigstad, Minot, for defendant/appellee. KNUDSON, Judge. This consolidated appeal is from orders of the district court of Ward County entering summary judgments on March 15, 1974, in favor of the defendant, American Motors Corporation (hereinafter AMC), in two cases arising out of an automobile collision on October 2, 1971. The appeals were briefed and argued together and will be resolved together in this opinion. Peggy Ann Johnson was the operator of a 1960 Rambler station wagon in which Gloria Jean Lingohr was a passenger, when the car was struck from behind by a 1963 Cadillac operated by one Michael Coughlin. Immediately upon impact the Rambler burst into flames and its occupants were incinerated. A passenger in the Cadillac also died as a result of injuries received in the accident. Georgia Ann Johnson, minor child of Peggy Ann Johnson, commenced a wrongful death action against Michael Coughlin and AMC, the manufacturer of the Rambler, for damages resulting from the wrongful death of her mother. Fred and Catherine Lingohr, the parents of Gloria Jean Lingohr, commenced a separate action against the same defendants for damages sustained by the heirs of Gloria Jean Lingohr's estate through her wrongful death. The civil actions against Michael Coughlin were settled and are not involved in this appeal. The gravamen of plaintiffs' allegations against AMC is that their decedents' deaths, due to incineration caused when the Rambler's gasoline tank ruptured and ignited upon impact, were due to AMC's negligent design of the vehicle. The trial court granted AMC's motion for summary judgment in each case on grounds of the following conclusions of law: This appeal requires a determination of whether the cases were properly disposed of by summary judgment. Rule 56(c), North Dakota Rules of Civil Procedure, provides that: "A material fact is one of such a nature as will affect the result or outcome of the case depending upon its resolution." Rathbun v. W. T. Grant Company, 219 N.W.2d 641, 646 (Minn.1974). We have held that to be entitled to entry of summary judgment in his favor the movant must show that there is no genuine issue of material fact. See also, Luithle v. Taverna, 214 N.W.2d 117 (N.D.1973). This is a heavy burden in any case in which negligence is alleged. Wolff v. Light, supra, was an action for injuries sustained by plaintiff police officer in attempting to remove a piece of jagged glass from a cafe window broken by the defendant's automobile. This Court (Teigen, C. J., and Strutz, J., dissenting) reversed a summary judgment for the defendant, holding in Syllabus 2 that: In the instant case, there is no dispute as to the evidentiary facts, i. e., that the plaintiffs' decedents were riding in a Rambler automobile manufactured by the defendant; that the automobile was involved in a rear end collision with another automobile; that immediately upon impact the Rambler burst into flames; and that the plaintiffs' decedents died as a result of incineration. This does not, however, negative the existence of an issue of fact. From these evidentiary facts, differing inferences may reasonably be drawn. One inference that could reasonably be drawn is that AMC had so designed and constructed the automobile it manufactured as to subject passengers in it to an unreasonable risk of harm from a foreseeable consequence of putting the automobile to its intended purpose. Another inference that could reasonably be drawn is that the collision was of such force that no steps AMC might have taken in the design and construction of this automobile would have prevented the harm that resulted. Since these differing inferences could reasonably be drawn and the adoption of one or the other would affect the outcome of the case, there is a "genuine issue as to any material fact" and the cases should have been tried. In Mikkelson v. Risovi, 141 N.W.2d 150 (N.D.1966), an action for personal injuries sustained by a twelve-year-old boy in a fall from defendant's scaffold, we held in Syllabus 5 that: As the foregoing statements of this court, other courts, and commentators illustrate, where questions of negligence or of compliance with the standard of the reasonable man are involved, issues of fact will usually be found to exist, thus precluding summary judgment, and that: The foregoing statements also illustrate that in cases where negligence, contributory negligence, assumption of risk, proximate cause, and the standard of the reasonable man are in issue, even if there is no dispute as to the evidentiary facts, if there is any doubt as to the existence of a genuine issue as to a material fact, or if the evidence is subject to conflicting interpretations, or differing inferences may be drawn, there is a jury question and summary judgment is improper. If there is a question whether one's conduct has met the standard of the reasonable man, whether one has acted reasonably or with due care, there is a question of fact to be determined by the jury. A question arises, then, as to what AMC's duty was in designing, constructing, and marketing its products. The standard of care that everyone is required to meet in North Dakota is fixed by statute. Section 9-10-01, North Dakota Century Code, provides: Section 9-10-06, N.D.C.C., provides: In Lindenberg v. Folson, 138 N.W.2d 573 (N.D.1973), an action against plaintiff's employer and the manufacturer of a potato *62 harvesting machine for injuries received when plaintiff's hand became caught in the machine, at a point where partially shielded sprockets and an unshielded chain were in easy reach and were natural objects for one's hand to contact, we held, at Syllabus 8, that: We also stated in Lindenberg, supra, at page 582, that: In Lindenberg, supra, at page 582, after citing Section 9-10-01 and Section 9-10-06, we quoted with approval Restatement of the Law, Torts, Sec. 398, as follows: Lang v. General Motors Corporation, 136 N.W.2d 805 (N.D.1965), was an action by a buyer for damages sustained in the purchase of a truck tractor because of alleged negligence in manufacture, construction and assembly of the truck tractor. The complaint alleged that the vehicle could not be operated safely on the highway; that it wobbled and shimmied due to negligent manufacture, construction, and assembly; and that plaintiff purchased the vehicle for trucking and hauling, and that it was not reasonably fit for such purposes. Plaintiff appeals from a summary judgment for the manufacturer. This court held that lack of privity was no defense, and reversed. Although the case was decided on the issue of privity of contract, it is instructive on the matters of implied warranty of fitness and summary judgment as well. Paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Syllabus state: It is true, as the trial court held, that "The intended purpose of an automobile does not include its participation in collisions with other objects, despite the manufacturer's ability to foresee the possibility that such collisions may occur." But collisions are clearly foreseeable consequences of putting automobiles to their intended purpose of transportation. It is also true, as the trial court held, that "The manufacturer of a motor vehicle is not under a duty to make his automobile accident-proof or fool-proof." This is an impossibility. The fact that these things are true, however, does not mean that there was no genuine issue as to any material fact and that AMC was entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Whether plaintiff's injuries *63 were occasioned by AMC's want of ordinary care or skill in the management of its property, or whether AMC's conduct met the standard of the reasonable man, or whether the design or manufacture of its product created an unreasonable risk is a fact question for the jury to determine. Because Section 9-10-01 and Section 9-10-06, N.D.C.C., were derived from Section 1708 and Section 1714 of the California Civil Code, decisions of California courts are helpful in determining the scope of these sections and their applicability as a standard of care or conduct to be met by manufacturers. Jaehne v. Pacific Tel. & Tel. Co., 105 Cal. App. 2d 683 (Dist.Ct.App., Cal.1951), 234 P.2d 165, was an action by a telephone switchboard operator for injuries allegedly suffered when her finger was pricked on a strand of wire when she pulled the cords from a switchboard in a hotel. The evidence showed that many of the cords on the switchboard had become frayed. Upon motion, the trial court entered judgment for the defendant. The appellate court reversed, stating, at 105 Cal. App. 2d 683, 687-688, 234 P.2d 168-169: In Thomas v. General Motors Corporation, 13 Cal. App. 3d 81, 91 Cal. Rptr. 301 (1970), plaintiff sued a laundromat owner, washing machine dealer, manufacturer, and the manufacturer's sales organization for injuries sustained when her hand and arm were drawn into a washing machine after the glass window on top of the machine gave way when plaintiff, six years old at the time, leaned against the glass. A rubber "bead" to hold the glass in the lid was not in place at the time of the accident. With the bead in place, the glass could have withstood a pressure of 290-380 pounds. Without the bead, a force of 12-20 pounds applied to the glass could cause the glass to fall into the machine. Against the manufacturer, plaintiff alleged: (1) defect in the design and manufacture of the lid mechanism; (2) negligent design, manufacture, assembly, testing and inspection of the lid mechanism; and (3) negligent failure to warn users of a concealed danger and risk. A jury awarded plaintiff damages against the laundromat owner but determined that she take nothing from the other defendants. On appeal, GM and Frigidaire were the only respondents. The court reversed, stating, at 91 Cal.Rptr. 305: The court further stated in Thomas v. General Motors Corporation, supra (hereafter the court's citations are omitted), at 91 Cal.Rptr. 305-306: In another California case it is stated that: In another case, also involving fire resulting from the rear end collision of another automobile, the California courts specifically held that Thus, the California courts have held that manufacturers must exercise reasonable care in designing their products so as to make them safe for their intended purposes; they must take reasonable steps to protect against harm resulting from foreseeable misuse of their products; and they have held that automobile manufacturers must take accidents into consideration as reasonably foreseeable occurrences involving their products, and that manufacturers have a duty to design and manufacture products which are not unreasonably dangerous, even though reasonable care is used *65 in the design and manufacture of the products. This court has recently held that manufacturers must use reasonable care in designing their products to protect users against unreasonable risk of harm while putting the product to any reasonably foreseeable uses. In Seibel v. Symons Corporation, 221 N.W.2d 50, 55 (N.D.1974), a contractor's employee who fell and was injured as a result of the breaking of a weld on a support rod to a concrete form, to which plaintiff had attached the lanyard of his safety belt, brought an action against the manufacturer of the form. The trial court instructed, inter alia, that: We approved (Teigen, J., dissenting) those instructions as being in conformity with the Restatement of Torts 2d, § 398, and with our holding in Lindenberg v. Folson, 138 N.W.2d 573 (N.D.1965). Thus, we have previously held that manufacturers must exercise reasonable care in the adoption of their products' designs. We have also held that a manufacturer's duty to exercise reasonable care in the design of its goods to protect its users against unreasonable risk of harm while being used for their intended purpose also extends to any other uses or purposes which could reasonably be expected or which the manufacturer should reasonably foresee. Thus, the uses of its products from which a manufacturer must protect the users against unreasonable risk of harm include foreseeable misuse of its products. What was AMC's duty to the users of its products? What events was AMC dutybound to foresee? When AMC adopted the design that it did, should it have foreseen that its automobile might be involved in a rear end collision of such force as to burst the gasoline tank and that in such case the automobile might burst into flame and the occupants might be incinerated? In adopting the design that it did, did AMC exercise ordinary care to protect users of its product from unreasonable risk of harm in putting the product to its intended use or other foreseeable uses? Was AMC's conduct reasonable? These are questions of fact for the jury. It was held in Henningsen v. Bloomfield Motors, Inc., 32 N.J. 358, 161 A.2d 69, 85 (1960), that a manufacturer is under a special *66 obligation in connection with the construction, promotion and sale of its cars. We would add that an automobile manufacturer is under a special obligation in connection with the design of its cars as well. The manner in which the public interest in human life and safety can best be protected is by subjecting manufacturers and sellers of defective products that are unreasonably dangerous to strict liability in tort when their products cause harm to users and consumers. The status of the law in North Dakota may be best clarified by the express adoption of the rule of strict liability in tort, as set forth in § 402A, 2 Restatement of Torts 2d: We are thus able to Summary judgments in these cases were improperly granted and are reversed and the cases remanded for trial on the merits. ERICKSTAD, C. J., and VOGEL, PAULSON and JOHNSON, JJ., concur.