Opinion ID: 626445
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: FMVSS 109 and the Relevant Product Risk

Text: The Trenados contend that Cooper was not entitled to the instruction on the presumption under § 82.008 because Cooper failed to establish that the subject tire complied with a safety standard governing the relevant product risk.2 As set out above, to be entitled to the presumption under § 82.008, a defendant must show compliance “with mandatory [federal] safety standards . . . that governed the product risk that allegedly caused the harm.” TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. § 82.008(a). Cooper’s entitlement to the instruction on § 82.008 was predicated solely on its compliance with FMVSS 109, which “specifies tire dimensions and laboratory test requirements for bead unseating resistance, strength, endurance, and high speed performance; defines tire load ratings; and specifies labeling requirements for passenger car tires.” 49 C.F.R. § 571.109 at S1. FMVSS 109 requires, inter alia, that a tire “exhibit no visual evidence of tread, sidewall, ply, cord, innerliner, or bead separation, chunking, broken cords, cracking, or open splices” after being subjected to a variety of stressful conditions. Id. at S4.2.1(e). Other required testing assesses a tire’s ability to withstand impact forces applied by a cylindrical steel plunger and its ability to run at high speeds without failing. Id. at S4.2.2.4, S4.2.2.6, S5.3, S5.5. 1 The parties do not dispute that the jury instruction at issue was a correct statement of law. 2 The Trenados also suggest that the legislative history underlying FMVSS 109 suggests that Congress did not intend compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to function as a defense or otherwise affect the rights of the parties. However, as set out above, § 82.008 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code expressly creates a presumption of no liability based on compliance with mandatory federal safety standards. 5 Case: 10-20675 Document: 00511807295 Page: 6 Date Filed: 03/30/2012 No. 10-20675 The Trenados assert that FMVSS 109 “has literally nothing to do with detecting or preventing the type of defect or risk of defect at issue in this case,” which they define as the subject tire’s “undue propensity for late-life catastrophic tread separation failure.”3 They argue that relevant testing would assess longterm durability, including “the ability of the tire’s internal components to maintain their integrity over long-term exposure to heat and oxygen and other environmental factors.” FMVSS 109, by contrast, requires laboratory testing that takes only a few hours to conduct. Cooper defines the relevant risk more broadly than the Trenados do, contending that tire failure due to a lack of durability is the relevant product risk. According to Cooper, FMVSS 109 directly governs this risk. As Cooper notes, the magistrate judge in this case conducted an extensive analysis of the applicability of FMVSS 109 and took similar view of the relevant risk. In her January 26, 2010 Memorandum and Recommendations, the magistrate judge discussed the product risk as the “risk of [tire] failure” and stated that “FMVSS 109 clearly presents minimum standards which Defendant’s tires must meet before those tires may be permitted to fail without legal repercussion.” Cooper further highlights that the tests required by FMVSS 109 pertain to tires’ strength and durability—characteristics the Trenados contended were lacking in the tire that failed. See 49 C.F.R. § 571.109 at S4.2.2.4 (setting requirements for “[t]ire strength”), S4.2.2.5 (setting requirements for “[t]ire endurance”), S4.2.2.6 (setting requirements for “[h]igh speed performance”). This court addressed a similar dispute in Wright v. Ford Motor Co., 508 F.3d 263 (5th Cir. 2007). The Wrights’ son had been backed over and killed by a Ford Expedition, and the Wrights sought to recover damages from Ford, alleging that the Expedition at issue “had a large and unreasonably dangerous 3 This ground was not raised in an objection before the district court and is thus reviewed only for plain error. 6 Case: 10-20675 Document: 00511807295 Page: 7 Date Filed: 03/30/2012 No. 10-20675 blind spot . . . [and] that Ford should have included [a] reverse sensing system as mandatory standard equipment on all Expedition models.” Id. at 267–68. The district court had instructed the jury that the presumption created by § 82.008(a) applied but could be rebutted in accordance with § 82.008(b). Id. at 269. The Wrights contended this constituted reversible error because the standard at issue, FMVSS 111, “d[id] not govern the rear sensing system with which they argue[d] the Expedition should have been equipped.” Id. In addressing the Wrights’ challenge, this court stressed that the applicability of the presumption in § 82.008(a) turns on the alleged risk, not on the alleged defect. See id. at 270. FMVSS 111 was entitled “Rearview mirrors” and set out “requirements for the performance and location of rearview mirrors.” 49 C.F.R. § 571.111 at S1. Nowhere did it address the alleged defect (i.e., the absence of rear sensors). See id. However, the standard expressly stated that its purpose was “to reduce the number of deaths and injuries that occur when the driver of a motor vehicle does not have a clear and reasonably unobstructed view to the rear.” Id. at S2. Because the harm in Wright was a death attributed to the Expedition’s obstructed rear visibility, this court held that FMVSS 111 addressed the product risk of harm asserted and that the district court properly rejected the Wrights’ objection to the jury charge. See Wright, 508 F.3d at 272. In the instant case, we conclude that tire failure was the relevant product risk and that FMVSS 109 governed this risk. Unlike the safety standard in Wright, FMVSS 109 does not expressly state its purpose or the risk it seeks to address. Compare 49 C.F.R. § 571.109 with § 571.111. However, FMVSS 109 does require a number of tests aimed at assuring that a tire is sufficiently durable to avoid failure under numerous stressful conditions. See 49 C.F.R. § 571.109. At trial, the Trenados’ witnesses and attorneys often framed the alleged defects of the subject tire in terms of what they alleged was inadequate durability. These descriptions of the relevant risk in terms of characteristics 7 Case: 10-20675 Document: 00511807295 Page: 8 Date Filed: 03/30/2012 No. 10-20675 FMVSS 109 directly addresses suggest that FMVSS 109 governs the risk of harm in this case. See Wright, 508 F.3d at 270 (considering statements at trial made by the plaintiffs’ experts and attorneys when determining whether the standard at issue governed the risk of harm alleged). Moreover, the broad range of tests required by FMVSS 109 and the variety of stressful conditions imposed on tires suggest that the regulation governs tire failure in general, as opposed to a particular mode of failure or type of defect. Consequently, the Trenados’ challenge regarding the applicability of FMVSS 109 to the risk at issue does not demonstrate that it was plain error to instruct the jury on the presumption under § 82.008.