Opinion ID: 355206
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: ford's appeal from the summary judgment

Text: 10 The purpose of the Safety Act is to protect the public against the unreasonable risk of accidents which might be caused by defects in the design, construction, or performance of motor vehicles and against the unreasonable risk of death or injury in the event of such accidents. 9 The Act contains a variety of mechanisms designed to further this purpose, but the one that concerns us here is the Act's requirement that manufacturers notify purchasers of motor vehicles containing a safety-related defect that poses an unreasonable risk of accident or injury within the meaning of the statute (15 U.S.C. § 1391; 15 U.S.C. § 1412). 10 As mentioned above, the district court decided that the seat-pin bracket in the cars in question constituted a safety-related defect which posed an unreasonable risk within the meaning of the Act. Accordingly, the district court, upon the Government's summary judgment motion, ordered Ford to recall the cars and repair the defective parts. 11 Ford appealed this decision, but thereafter unilaterally instituted a final recall to repair the defective seat pins in the vehicles. Ford has, on its own, initiated action which, if completed in accordance with the requirements of the applicable statutes and regulations, will result in the elimination of the dangerous condition that was the subject of the proceedings before the district court. Now that Ford has decided to repair the defects, the question on appeal whether the district court erred when it declared the defect an unreasonable risk and ordered a recall upon the Government's summary judgment motion is moot. By eliminating the defect in these vehicles, Ford will eliminate the very subject of the suit in Nos. 76-2062 and 76-2063. A federal court should not consider questions or decide issues that do not involve actual controversies affecting the rights of some litigant in the case before it. 11 Since a recall is under way and since the defects are being repaired, we need not decide whether the district court's entry of summary judgment was proper. We hold that the dispute in Nos. 76-2062 and 76-2063 is moot. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeals in these two cases.