Opinion ID: 878746
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: is the doctrine of contributory negligence available as a defense under the circumstances of question number 1?

Text: In Brown v. North American Manufacturing Co. (1978), 176 Mont. 98, 576 P.2d 711, this Court held that contributory negligence is not an available defense in a strict liability case for defective products. Matkovic contends that this Court should likewise hold that contributory negligence is not a defense to abnormally dangerous activity. We agree. In Zahrte v. Sturm, Ruger & Co., supra, we affirmed our position in Brown, holding that contributory negligence is not available as a defense in a products liability case based upon strict liability principles. The same rationale forecloses contributory negligence as a defense to strict liability arising out of abnormally dangerous activity. We, therefore, hold that assumption of risk is the only available defense and, as previously stated, must be compared with the conduct of the defendant. A copy of this opinion shall be mailed to the Clerk of the United States District Court of Montana, Billings Division. TURNAGE, C.J., and HARRISON WEBER, GULBRANDSON, SHEEHY and HUNT, JJ., concur.