Court Opinion

ID: 9764680
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 03:35:52.815184+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:00.380292
License: Public Domain

EVANS, Justice,
dissenting.
I cannot agree with the majority of the court that evidence as to the availability of the kill-switch was inadmissible. As I read the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Turner, it holds that the jury is no longer to be instructed on the definition of “unreasonably dangerous”. It does not hold that evidence as to the availability of a safety feature should not be considered by the jury, and, to the contrary, the court’s opinion strongly suggests that such evidence is relevant to the jury’s consideration of the design process.
The ultimate effect of the majority holding, if allowed to stand, is to impose absolute liability upon the manufacturer of any product which is not “unreasonably dangerous” at the time it is marketed, but which becomes so by reason of the subsequent invention and marketing of a safety feature making the product less dangerous to the consumer. If the consumer is permitted to offer evidence showing the applicability of a safety feature in the design process, the manufacturer should be allowed to offer evidence showing the relative cost and availability of the safety feature at the time the product is marketed. Unless the seller is permitted to show these circumstances, the jury is afforded only a partial view of the design process and, thus, does not have facts essential to an informed determination of whether the product was unreasonably dangerous.
Where a product is not unreasonably dangerous at the time it is marketed and be*813comes so only when some later invention makes it function with greater safety, evidence regarding the availability of the new invention should, in my opinion, be admitted for the jury’s consideration. Contrary to the majority’s statement that evidence of availability is relevant only to the question of the manufacturer’s “care”, such evidence is essential to any reasonable understanding of the process under and by which the particular design was adopted. If the jury is not allowed to consider such evidence, it may impose liability upon the manufacturer even though the safety item was not reasonably available at the time the product was marketed.
The absolute character of liability imposed by the majority is not, in my opinion, justified by Turner and constitutes a dangerous extension of the strict liability doctrine.
I would affirm the judgment of the trial court.