Opinion ID: 1163229
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Obviousness of Danger Posed by Excessive Weight

Text: River and Sea also argues that the danger posed by the weight of the boat-trailer combination was an obvious danger, for which it should not be held responsible.
Courts appear universally to agree with the Restatement that a seller is not liable for injuries caused by an obviously dangerous product. See, e.g., Mele v. Turner, 106 Wash.2d 73, 720 P.2d 787, 790 (1986) (no liability arising from failure to warn of obvious danger); Nichols v. Westfield Indus., Ltd., 380 N.W.2d 392, 400 (Iowa 1985) (supplier's duty is to warn of dangers which are not obvious with respect to use of the chattel in the condition in which it is supplied). As Section 388(b) suggests, [i]t is not necessary for the supplier to inform those for whose use the chattel is supplied of a condition which a mere casual looking over will disclose, unless the circumstances under which the chattel is supplied are such as to make it likely that even so casual an inspection will not be made. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 388 cmt. k (1965). Judge (now Justice) Breyer in applying Maine law refused to impose liability for injury caused by an obviously dangerous condition. [I]f the law required suppliers to warn of all obvious dangers inherent in a product, `[t]he list of foolish practices warned against would be so long, it would fill a volume.' Plante v. Hobart Corp., 771 F.2d 617, 620 (1st Cir.1985) (citation omitted). We have refused to impose strict liability based upon failure to warn of hazards or dangers that would be readily recognized by the ordinary user of the product. Prince, 685 P.2d at 88. See also W. Page Keeton et al., Prosser and Keeton on the Law of Torts § 96, at 686-87 (5th ed. 1984). These cases and the Restatement are based on the rationale that once aware of the danger posed by a hazardous item, the purchaser is in the best position to evaluate the risks of operation and to make the decision whether to assume or avoid those risks. Richard A. Epstein, Modern Products Liability Law 94-95 (1980). The provider of a good generally has superior information regarding the potential hazards posed by the good; the law presumes, however, that once in possession of this information the user of the good is in a better position to evaluate the risks and avoid accidents in connection with use. The decision to place the risk of dangerous products upon a fully-informed user gains further support in the context of the particular injury at issue in this case. Given the wide range of individual sizes and strengths, the person lifting a weighty object is the best judge of his or her ability to lift it safely. [7] Not only is the risk of injury particularly obvious to the person lifting the object, it is extremely difficult for the seller to perceive. This fact does not relieve the seller, however, of the prior duty to inform the purchaser of the weight of the boat-trailer combination; that duty is relieved only if the purchaser may reasonably be expected to become aware of the weight before placing himself or herself in danger.
Summary judgment was appropriate, therefore, if there was no dispute from the evidence that River and Sea could reasonably have expected Maddox to be aware of the tongue-weight and the danger it posed without any warning from River and Sea. See Andrulonis v. United States, 924 F.2d 1210, 1222 (2d Cir.1991), vacated, 502 U.S. 801, 112 S.Ct. 39, 116 L.Ed.2d 18 (1991), result reinstated, 952 F.2d 652 (2d Cir.1991), cert. denied, 505 U.S. 1204, 112 S.Ct. 2992, 120 L.Ed.2d 869 (1992) (inquiry into obviousness of danger depends not upon actual knowledge of user but upon whether the danger was sufficiently obvious that it would be unreasonable to impose a duty to warn upon the supplier). If so, the risk posed by the boat-trailer combination was obvious and Maddox properly bears responsibility for any injury he suffered in assuming it. A review of the evidence leads us to conclude that summary judgment could not properly be granted on this basis. Maddox testified at his deposition that he did not feel the full force of the tongue-weight until he removed the tongue from the hitch. At that point he had no choice whether to lift the tongue, as he already bore its full weight. River and Sea presented no evidence suggesting that Maddox would have been aware of the magnitude of the tongue weight before he removed the tongue from the hitch. [8] Thomson testified during his deposition that tongue-weights vary substantially even between boats of similar length, and that it is quite difficult to predict how heavy a boat-trailer combination will be. The Paulk affidavit suggested that the proper tongue-weight of the boat-trailer combination sold to Maddox would be between 80 and 159 pounds. Drawing all inferences in favor of Maddox, reasonable minds could differ based upon this evidence as to whether Maddox should have appreciated the risk of injury before lifting the tongue. Weight is generally obvious to a person lifting an object directly from the ground, before one actually lifts the object. However, the tongue-weight of the boat-trailer combination is largely determined by the placement of the axle of the boat trailer. Accordingly, the weight of this object was not obvious in advance. Moreover, the tongue-weight was partially borne by the hitch as Maddox removed it. The evidence leaves in material dispute the question whether Maddox could reasonably be expected to realize the hazards associated with lifting the trailer. Under these circumstances, summary judgment should have been denied. The danger of injury inherent in detaching the trailer manually was not sufficiently obvious to relieve River and Sea of any duty to warn Maddox of the weight of the combination. [9]