Opinion ID: 1782594
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Comparative Fault In Crashworthiness Cases

Text: As noted above, although we recognized the crashworthiness doctrine in Evancho some time ago, the issue of whether principles of comparative fault apply in enhanced injury cases is one of first impression for this Court. It appears that the first case in Florida to have addressed this issue is Kidron, Inc. v. Carmona, 665 So.2d 289 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995), wherein the Third District held that an automobile manufacturer in a crashworthiness case may apportion fault with the plaintiff based on the plaintiff's contributory negligence in causing the initial impact. There, the plaintiff's husband was killed in an auto accident after his car crashed into the back of a stalled delivery truck manufactured by Kidron. The plaintiff sued Kidron in strict liability alleging that it assembled a truck without a rear underguard, which if installed would have prevented the decedent's car from being forced under the truck's bed during the collision. Kidron asserted a comparative fault defense based on the decedent's alleged negligence in failing to avoid hitting the stalled truck. The trial court refused to allow this defense and the plaintiff prevailed at trial. On appeal, the Third District held that the principles of comparative fault apply in a strict liability suit regardless of whether the injury at issue resulted from the primary or secondary collision. See id. at 292. The court reasoned: This view is based on the belief ... that fairness and good reason require that the fault of the defendant and of the plaintiff should be compared with each other with respect to all damages and injuries for which the conduct of each party is a cause in fact and a proximate cause. Id. (citing § 768.81, Fla. Stat. (1993)). In so concluding, the court rejected the argument that a plaintiff's comparative fault should not be considered in the secondary collision context. See id. Without discussion, the court noted that the plaintiffs argument represented a minority view, and the court declined to follow it. See id.