Opinion ID: 687677
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Duty to Warn or Instruct

Text: 32 Novak submitted the following jury instructions relating to Navistar's duty to warn consumers of dangerous conditions:Proposed No. 11 33 Plaintiff can also recover against defendant on a theory of strict products liability if defendant failed to give adequate warnings of the danger that existed because of the tractor's design. The law requires that defendant give adequate warnings at the time of sale of dangers inherent in the tractor's use as well as dangers involved in uses that defendant can reasonably anticipate. If plaintiff proves by a preponderance of the evidence that defendant failed to give warnings, the tractor is in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous without regard to its design. For purposes of strict liability, the unreasonableness of the condition of the tractor, not the conduct of the defendant, creates liability. Whether any warnings given by the defendant were adequate is for you to determine. Proposed No. 22 34 Defendant also has a continuing duty to give adequate warnings of dangers inherent in the tractor's use that defendant learns of after sale. Defendant is required to keep informed about its products from research, accident reports, scientific literature, and other sources reasonably available to it, and to use reasonable methods to give adequate warnings of dangers that it learns of during the expected useful life of the product. If a manufacturer learns after sale of a product of a defect that existed at the time of sale that made the product unreasonably dangerous, the manufacturer must use reasonable methods either to give users adequate warnings of the danger or to redesign the product. Whether any efforts made by defendant were adequate is for you to determine. 35 Novak argues that the failure to warn of a possibly dangerous condition is by itself a product defect, quite apart from the question whether the underlying condition rises to the level of a defect. Novak's position is that even if the need to at least periodically adjust the turnbuckle is not a defect, the failure to inform the consumer of this need to adjust may be. 36 Novak argues that in South Dakota a  'well-designed product may be found to be defective without an adequate warning,'  citing Peterson v. Safway Steel Scaffolds Co., 400 N.W.2d 909, 912 (S.D.1987). Therefore, he contends, the jury could find that, because of the potential for maladjustment, Navistar's failure to warn of that potential problem caused the tractor to be defective regardless of whether or not the turnbuckle design was defective. 37 In support of the continuing or post-sale duty to warn referred to in proposed instruction No. 22, Novak chiefly relies on Holmes v. Wegman Oil Co., 492 N.W.2d 107, 112-13 (S.D.1992). 38 Navistar argues that there was no evidence that any failure to warn contributed to Novak's injury, in that Novak already knew that he was placing himself in a zone of danger. Navistar distinguishes Holmes on the basis that in that case the manufacturer admitted the defect and knew of many extremely serious injuries caused by it, yet failed to act responsibly in recalling its product. Here, Navistar does not admit a defect, nor is there evidence of a number of similar accidents. Navistar also argues that it is logical to assume that the jury found the tractor had no defect, and that thus there was nothing to warn of. 39 Based upon our reading of Peterson and Holmes, we believe that the South Dakota Supreme Court would hold that, given Navistar's production of the solid rod replacement kit in 1977-78, it had the duty to warn users of the 06 series tractors of the potential danger that could result from the continued use of the original turnbuckle mechanism and of the need to readjust that mechanism. We note that in Zacher v. Budd, 396 N.W.2d 122, 139 (S.D.1986), the South Dakota Supreme Court found that a usage warning should have been impressed on truck-wheel rims, so that not only purchasers and owners, but those who later serviced the wheels, would be protected by proper instructions. Accordingly, we conclude that the district court should have given the jury appropriate instructions on Navistar's duty to warn. The particular wording of such instructions we leave to the district court to fashion on remand.