Opinion ID: 771128
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Defendant's Expert Gunter Plamper

Text: 24 After MTD's motion for a directed verdict was denied, the defense called Gunter Plamper, an engineer, as its rebuttal expert. Plamper is a registered professional engineer in Germany and worked as an engineer in Nuremberg, Germany, for Siemans Company before coming to the United States in 1964. Plamper was initially hired by MTD in 1964 as a project engineer and given the task of designing a high-end self- propelled walk-behind lawn mower. In 1970, he was promoted to chief engineer of consumer products, and remained in that position until 1994. Currently, he is MTD's vice president in charge of product development and safety. Furthermore, Plamper holds eight patents which have been incorporated into mass- produced products. Additionally, he is involved with ANSI and is a member of the Engineering Subcommittee for the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute as well as a number of other safety organizations. 25 As one would expect, Plamper had a much different opinion as to the safety of the MTD lawn mower in question. 26 Question: Mr. Plamper, in your opinion based on a reasonable degree of engineering certainty is this model mower safe to use? 27 Answer: Yes. 28 Question: How so? 29 Answer: It meets all the requirement[s]. The warnings make the operator aware of the danger of a thrown object. I mean he would behave accordingly [sic] to the warning and the instructions this accident would not have occurred. 30 Question: Can the mower be operated safely without an injury to the operator? 31 Answer: Yes. There are millions of them used every day and very safe [sic]. 32 Question: Do you have an opinion, Mr. Plamper, based on a reasonable degree of engineering certainty as to the condition of the machine at the time of design and manufacture when it left MTD? 33 Answer: Yes. 34 Question: And what is your opinion? 35 Answer: My opinion is when this machine left MTD it met all the requirements and was perfectly safe for consumer use. 36 Question: When it left MTD did it have any defects? 37 Answer: It did not have any defects in manufacturing or design. 38