Opinion ID: 1708200
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: automotive expert testimony

Text: The plaintiffs also called Harley Copp and William N. Weins, Ph.D., to testify as experts on automotive design and handling. Michael Dickinson was the plaintiffs' reconstruction expert. Dickinson presented a computerized simulation of the Fiat X1/9's path during the accident. Weins and Copp testified that they found the Fiat X1/9 was defective and unreasonably dangerous because it made a rapid transition from understeer to oversteer when the driver lifted his foot off the throttle, during sharp cornering or emergency maneuvering, at or near the car's limit of control, making the vehicle uncontrollable. Understeering and oversteering refer to the handling characteristics of the vehicle. Weins explained that a vehicle which does not turn as much as the driver wants is an understeering vehicle. He further testified that understeering is a feature common among American-built cars. In contrast, an oversteering vehicle would turn more than a driver would like, and therefore the vehicle will turn more sharply if it is an oversteering vehicle. Weins testified that in a situation in which the driver has lost control in an understeering vehicle, the vehicle will go forward, whereas an oversteering vehicle which is out of the control of the driver will turn sideways or spin. At the close of the plaintiffs' case, defendants moved for a directed verdict. The court sustained the motion on plaintiffs' claim for crashworthiness on both negligence and strict liability theories, because plaintiffs' evidence was insufficient to establish a causal connection between the alleged defective design and Kudlacek's injuries and because no alternative design had been offered by the plaintiffs. During their defense, defendants presented the expert testimony of Edward Heitzman, an automotive engineer. Heitzman testified, in part, on several tests conducted on the Fiat X1/9 as well as on other vehicles. Videotapes were made of all the testing performed. Plaintiffs' objections to the introduction of the videotapes showing the testing of the other vehicles were overruled. At the close of all the evidence, plaintiffs withdrew their negligence claims against defendants, and the remaining issues of handling instability and failure to warn were submitted to the jury, under a theory of strict liability. The instructions to the jury included a state-of-the-art instruction, to which the plaintiffs objected. Further facts will be discussed as they become necessary to an understanding of the issues at hand.