Court Opinion

ID: 9540540
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:17:15.242634+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:59:57.550539
License: Public Domain

BROWN, Judge,
concurring and dissenting.
I respectfully concur in part and dissent in part. I concur with the majority's analysis and determination of the first issue that the duty the Cooks seek to impose was not in conflict with Standard 208, nor was Standard 208 an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of federal objectives, and therefore the cause of action was not preempted under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution. As to the second issue, I respectfully dissent.
I agree with the majority that Ford owed the Cooks a duty to warn of the dangers associated with their truck's airbags. I disagree with the majority's conclusion that there exists a genuine issue of material fact that Ford was in breach of that duty. As stated by the majority, the duty to warn consists of two parts: (1) to provide adequate instructions for safe use; and (2) to provide a warning as to dangers inherent in improper use. Coffman v. PSI Emergy, Inc., 815 N.E.2d 522, 527 (Ind.Ct.App.2004), reh'g demied, trams. denied. In the truck's instruction manual, Ford directed the following, which Peter admits to having read:
e Keep the passenger air bag turned on unless there is a rear-facing infant seat installed in the front seat. When the passenger air bag switch is turned off, the passenger air bag will not inflate in a collision.
eIf the passenger air bag switch is turned off, it increases the likelihood of injury to forward facing occupants in the passenger seat.
Appellant's Appendix at 150. In addition, the manual contained the following additional warnings, which Lori and Peter chose not to read:
e <!> All occupants of the vehicle, including the driver, should always wear their safety belts.
e <!> To prevent the risk of, [sic] injury, make sure children sit where they can be properly restrained.
e <!> It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area, inside or outside of a vehicle, [sie] In a collision, people riding in these areas are more likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do not allow people to ride in any area of *335your vehicle that is not equipped with seats and safety belts.
Be sure everyone in your vehicle is in a seat and using a safety belt properly.
e Always follow the instructions and warnings that come with any infant or child restraint you might use. If possible, place children in the rear seat of your vehicle. Accident statistics suggest that children are safer when properly restrained in rear seating positions than when they are restrained in front seating positions.
Id. at 94-95. Also, Ford put warnings on the truck's sun visor, including:
*e For maximum safety protection in all types of crashes, you must always wear your safety belt.
Id. at 97. Peter and Lori admit that they also did not read the warnings on the truck's sun visor. Id. at 60, 71-72. Despite the fact that the Cooks had available rear seating, they went against Ford's instructions and placed Lindsey in the front passenger seat. Also, it is undisputed that Lindsey had removed her safety belt at the time of the accident. All parties agree that had Lindsey been in the back seat when the crash occurred, she would not have been injured. Id. at 62-64, 90-92.
The majority cites Ford Motor Co. v. Rushford, 845 N.E.2d 197 (Ind.Ct.App.2006), rev'd on other grounds, which sets forth the applicable legal standard. In Rushford, we held that failure to warn issues may be evaluated as a question of law "where the facts are undisputed and only a single inference can be drawn from those facts." Id. at 202 (citing Northern Ind. Pub. Serv. Co. v. Sharp, 790 N.E.2d 462, 466 (Ind.2003). Here, there is no dispute that the above warning was contained in the owner's manual for the Cooks' truck. Also, it is undisputed that it was certainly "possible" for the Cooks to have seated Lindsey in the rear seat as they were directed. Based on this evidence I can draw only the single inference that the Cooks failed to comply with Ford's adequate warning to seat children in the rear of the vehicle and to always wear their safety belts. See also In re Air Bag Products Liability Litigation, 7 F.Supp.2d 792, 797-799 (E.D.La.1998) (holding that language from the 1996 Ford Contour's owner manual, which states in part that "[when possible, put children in the rear seat," was an adequate cautionary instruction and therefore a reasonably prudent buyer should have discovered the risk presented by air bags prior to sale).
For these reasons, I respectfully concur in part and dissent in part.