Jablonski v. Ford Motor Company

SUPREME COURT CASES

Laws-info.com » Cases » Illinois » 5th District Appellate » 2010 » Jablonski v. Ford Motor Company

State: Illinois

Court: 5th District Appellate

Docket No: 5-05-0723 Rel

Case Date: 02/01/2010

Preview:NO. 5-05-0723
NOTICE Decision filed 02/01/10. The text of this decision may be changed or corrected prior to the filing of a Peti tion for Rehearing or th e

IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

FIFTH DISTRICT ________________________________________________________________________ DORA M AE JABLONSKI and JOHN L. JABLONSKI, JR., as Special Administrator and Personal Representative of the Estate of John L. Jablonski, Sr., ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of ) Madison County. ) ) Plaintiffs-Appellees, ) ) v. ) No. 03-L-2027 ) FORD MOTOR COMPANY, ) ) Defendant-Appellant, ) ) and ) ) NATALIE S. INGRAM, ) Honorable ) A. A. Matoesian, Defendant. ) Judge, presiding. ________________________________________________________________________ JUSTICE STEWART delivered the opinion of the court: The plaintiffs, Dora Mae Jablonski (Dora) and John L. Jablonski, Jr., as the special administrator and personal representative of the estate of Dora's deceased husband, John L. Jablonski, Sr. (John), brought this action against Ford Motor Company (Ford), alleging strict product liability and negligence in the design of their 1993 Lincoln Town Car automobile as a result of a collision in which John was killed and Dora was seriously injured. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that the fuel tank system in the Lincoln Town Car was defective, unreasonably dangerous, and negligently designed by Ford. The plaintiffs also filed a negligence claim against Natalie S. Ingram, the driver of the vehicle that collided with the Jablonskis' vehicle, but that claim was settled before the trial. Plaintiff Dora Jablonski moved prior to the trial for leave to file a willful-and-wanton-conduct count and to seek 1

disposition of the same.

punitive damages, and after a hearing, her motion was granted by the trial court. The plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their strict product liability claims at the close of all the evidence, and the case against Ford was submitted to the jury on the negligent-design claims and on the willful-and-wanton-conduct claims seeking punitive damages. The jury returned a verdict against Ford, assessing the plaintiffs' total damages in excess of $43 million, including $15 million in punitive damages, on which the circuit court of Madison County entered a judgment. The circuit court denied Ford's motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict or for a new trial. Ford timely appeals from the judgment. Ford raises numerous claims of error, which we restate generally as follows: the trial court erred (1) in submitting any of the plaintiffs' negligent-design claims to the jury, (2) in making various evidentiary rulings, (3) in instructing the jury on the negligence claims, and (4) in submitting Dora's punitive damages claim to the jury and instructing the jury on that claim. Due to the nature and complexity of the many issues raised on appeal by Ford, we must provide an extensive review of the evidence produced at the trial. Additional facts will be provided where necessary. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. BACKGROUND This case arose from a July 3, 2003, automobile accident in which Dora and John were traveling in their 1993 Lincoln Town Car, which was the last car in a line of traffic stopped at a construction site on Interstate 270, near its intersection with Illinois Route 203, in Madison County, Illinois. Ingram, who was driving a 1995 Chevrolet Lumina, while distracted and looking for her sunglasses, rear-ended the Jablonskis' vehicle. At the point of the collision, she was traveling at least 56 miles per hour and by some estimates 65 miles per hour. According to witnesses, Ingram did not brake or leave skid marks, and she struck the rear of the Jablonski vehicle dead center. As a result of the collision, the fuel tank in the Lincoln Town Car was crushed, a pipe wrench located in the trunk of the Jablonskis' car

2

penetrated the fuel tank, and a fire immediately ensued. It is undisputed that gasoline leaking from the damaged fuel tank caused the fire. Both Dora and John were eventually able to exit their vehicle but were engulfed in flames and suffered severe burn injuries. John suffered burns over 80% of his body and died two days later as a result of his burn injuries. Dora suffered burns over 32% of her body, including her face, and by the time of the trial, she had suffered through extensive burn treatment, reconstructive surgery, and rehabilitation. She will need extensive care and treatment for the remainder of her life. At the time of the accident, John was 74 and Dora was 71. They had been married for more than 50 years and had raised four children. The extent of the Jablonskis' injuries and the medical expenses associated with those injuries are not disputed. Ford does not challenge the amount of the verdict and makes no claim that either the compensatory damages or the punitive damages are excessive. The plaintiffs' negligence claims were focused upon the design of the fuel tank system in the 1993 Lincoln Town Car. Evidence presented by both parties revealed that the Lincoln Town Car, the Mercury Grand Marquis, the Ford Crown Victoria, and the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (Police Interceptor) are all "Panther platform" vehicles. Ford developed the Panther platform and first introduced it in the 1979 model year. The characteristics of Panther platform vehicles include a large, deep trunk, a solid axle, rearwheel drive, and body-on-frame construction. The fuel tank in Panther platform vehicles is located forward of the trunk, behind the rear axle and between the rear wheels, a configuration known as an "aft-of-axle" or "vertical-behind-the-axle" fuel tank. While aft-ofaxle fuel tanks were common when the Panther platform was developed in 1979, Ford has placed the fuel tank forward of the axle in every new passenger car platform it has since designed. By 1991, a majority of all the new automobiles manufactured had fuel tanks forward of the axle. At the time of the trial, the Panther platform vehicles and the Mustang

3

were the only types of vehicles Ford still manufactured with an aft-of-axle fuel tank. The plaintiffs presented exhibits, including Ford records, and the testimony of Ford employees which the plaintiffs argued revealed that Ford had long been aware of the potential dangers associated with the aft-of-axle fuel tank design, including the danger of objects in the trunk puncturing the fuel tank in a collision. In the late 1960s, Derwyn Severy, a researcher at UCLA, conducted a series of automobile collision experiments, partially funded by Ford, for the purpose of obtaining "information relating to the injury exposure for high-speed rear-end collisions, including the lethal hazard of gasoline-fed post[]crash fires." The Severy research resulted in an article in a publication of the Society of Automotive Engineers, which was introduced into evidence. The article included this conclusion among its findings: "Initial findings indicate that much progress can be made in reducing the possibility of crash fires by incorporation of relatively inexpensive design considerations relating to fuel tanks and related fuel systems. *** Preliminary studies suggest that the area cradled by the rear wheels, above the rear axle and below the rear window[,] represents an improved location for the fuel tank. compromised from collisions of all types." On October 3, 1969, Roger Daniel, a safety engineer at Ford, sent a handwritten memo to his superiors at Ford entitled "Future Gas Tank Location." In the memo, Daniel stated his understanding that the "future direction as to fuel tank location is to hang the tank under the trunk," and he asserted that "for all vehicles except wagons and convertibles, the best tank location by far appears to be directly above the axle." Daniel stated that an advantage of this design was that it would be "almost impossible to crush the tank from the rear." On January 23, 1970, Daniel prepared a typewritten memo, also signed by Robert Fredericks, Ford's principal research engineer for safety engineering, which stated as follows: This location is least often

4

"We have examined possible fuel tank locations and determined that the safest place for a fuel tank is directly above the rear axle and below the package tray. In rear[-]end accidents, the tank is above and forward of vehicle components likely to crush during the collision or deform it, while in lateral accidents, the tires, axle, and wheelhouse structure provide extensive protection against rupture or even excessive deformation." The memo described the proposed tank location in detail and concluded that in that location the tank "is high enough in the trunk to essentially preclude rupture from in-trunk articles during an accident." On February 9, 1971, Ford prepared a "Cost Engineering Report" to determine the potential cost of moving the fuel tank to the above-the-rear-axle location. The report concluded that the cost of the design change at that time would have been $9.95 per vehicle. This design change was not incorporated into the 1979 Panther platform. The plaintiffs introduced excerpts of an evidence deposition of Kenneth K. Kohrs that had been taken in another case on February 26, 1992, just prior to the production of the Jablonskis' Lincoln Town Car. At that time, Kohrs was the vice president of car product development for Ford, which he agreed meant that he was the person with "the highest direct responsibility for the engineering design and development of private passenger automobiles sold in North America." He testified that he understood he was testifying as a representative of Ford and acknowledged that "it is Ford's position that the automotive industry should incorporate in a new product the latest state of the art with regard to overall vehicle safety that is feasible from a high volume production standpoint." Kohrs stated that Ford has "always been aware of [its] responsibility to minimize the effect of post[]crash fires and the need to continually reduce the incidence." He further acknowledged that Ford had produced fuel system designs for the Fox platform vehicle which incorporated shields for the fuel tank. He also admitted that Ford had produced the Capri for the European market in the 1970s and

5

that the Capri had an above-the-rear-axle fuel tank. Kohrs acknowledged that the location of the fuel tank in the Capri had been marketed by Ford as a safety feature and that the Capri had passed a 30-mile-per-hour fixed-barrier crash test. Brian Geraghty, a Ford employee for more than 40 years, who, at the time of the trial, was the director of Ford's design analysis office, was called by the plaintiffs as an adverse witness. Geraghty testified that before the Jablonskis' accident on July 3, 2003, Ford knew that there had been police car collisions in which the fuel tank was punctured, resulting in fires and the deaths of the occupants. Ford was aware that between 1983 and 2003, five deaths and seven injuries resulted from collisions in which items in the trunk had punctured the fuel tank. The police cars involved in these accidents were Police Interceptors that were built on the Panther platform. Geraghty acknowledged that the state police agencies in both Florida and Arizona had requested that Ford study the issue of fires caused by the puncture of fuel tanks by items in the trunk as a result of rear-end collisions. Geraghty identified an exhibit prepared by Dr. Michelle Vogler, at the request of Ford, for the Arizona Highway Patrol, with statistics concerning the fire risk in various vehicles involved in fatal rear-end collisions. The data in that exhibit indicated that Lincoln Town Cars were involved in fatal rear-end collisions more than three times more often than Ford Escorts, a much smaller vehicle designed with a forward-of-the-axle fuel tank. Geraghty also identified an exhibit indicating that in the years 2002 to 2003, there were more than 15 million registered vehicles in the United States that had their fuel tanks located behind the axle but that, at the time of the trial, no vehicles on that list were still being manufactured or sold with a fuel tank in that location, except Ford's Panther platform vehicles. The plaintiffs introduced as admissions, and read to the jury, excerpts from a deposition of Michael J. Harrigan, Sr., taken in another case on December 11, 2003. Harrigan had worked in the design of fuel systems at Ford since 1977. In 1986, he became

6

the chairman of the Fuel Systems Technical Standards Committee of the Society of Automotive Engineers. The committee includes approximately 50 individuals employed by various automobile manufacturers and automobile component part manufacturers. Its purpose is to develop standards and recommended practices for the automotive industry in the design of fuel systems. Harrigan also taught a class on fuel systems engineering to Ford engineers beginning in 1991. Portions of the 2000 version of the class manual were introduced into evidence. Harrigan agreed that he is an expert in "fuel system design standards." Harrigan acknowledged that since the introduction of the Escort in 1981, all the passenger cars designed at Ford have been designed with the fuel tank forward of the axle. He confirmed that Ford's preferred fuel tank location is forward of the axle, but he acknowledged that the fuel tank design for Panther platform vehicles had not changed since their introduction in 1979. Harrigan agreed that a part of the role of the engineer in designing a fuel system for an automobile is to protect the customer. He testified that engineering standards require that a fuel system be designed to avoid allowing anything to penetrate or puncture the fuel tank in a crash. If a hazard is identified that the design cannot prevent from occurring, Harrigan agreed that shielding should be employed. He

acknowledged that Ford had used high-density polyethylene shielding to shield fuel tanks in some of its vehicles since the 1970s, and he agreed that the shielding was technically and economically feasible to use. The manual for the fuel systems engineering class that Harrigan used to teach Ford engineers provides that it is the "engineer's role" to "eliminate potential hazards" in the product. The manual then states that if the engineer cannot "design [a] hazard out of the product," he should "design a guard or shield." As a "last resort" the engineer is taught to "provide a clear warning" if the hazard cannot be designed out of the product and an

7

appropriate guard or shield cannot be designed. Finally, the manual provides that the engineer should consider not releasing the product if a hazard still exists. Cam Cope, an expert consultant who determines the cause and origin of vehicle fires, testified for the plaintiffs that the major cause and the original source of the Jablonskis' fire was the pipe wrench that was propelled through the trunk wall and into the fuel tank. He also opined that the collision caused a smaller hole in the fuel tank and that the smaller hole was another likely source of the fire. Mark Arndt testified as an expert witness for the plaintiffs. He has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and specializes in automotive engineering. For approximately 20 years, he has provided consulting services regarding motor vehicle crashes, particularly those involving postcrash fires, and in that capacity he has investigated thousands of crashes involving fires. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers and served on its Fuel Containment Standards Committee, which is charged, in part, with the responsibility for developing standards and recommended practices for the design of fuel systems in motor vehicles. He has also published peer-reviewed articles on postcrash vehicle fires and on the analysis of similar incidents to determine product safety. In preparation for his testimony, Arndt and his staff examined and photographed the Jablonskis' Lincoln Town Car, removed the fuel tank, and performed a detailed analysis of this accident. He also performed an analysis of other similar incidents. Arndt compiled a list of 44 accidents between 1981 and 2003 involving postcrash fires in rear-impact collisions of Ford automobiles. Most of the vehicles involved were Panther platform automobiles, and all of them were designed with a vertical-behind-the-axle fuel tank. Many of the occupants of the vehicles suffered severe burn injuries or died of burn injuries. Arndt's list included 11 incidents, prior to the Jablonskis' accident, involving Police Interceptors where the fuel tank was punctured by an item located in the trunk. Arndt had personally investigated

8

approximately 20 of the incidents on the list, and he relied upon the list of incidents in forming his opinions. Arndt also prepared and relied upon a separate list of similar incidents that had been compiled from an interrogatory answer filed by Ford in another case in 1992. That list was also introduced into evidence and included 416 accidents involving Ford vehicles with behind-the-axle fuel tanks in which the fuel tank was torn, punctured, or split open, and it revealed 378 fatal burn injuries. Arndt expressed the opinion that the pipe wrench located in the trunk of the Jablonskis' vehicle penetrated the front and rear walls of the fuel tank, causing the two larger holes in the fuel tank. He also noted that an additional, smaller hole in the fuel tank was caused by the crushing of the low-fuel reservoir in the fuel tank. Arndt confirmed that the low-fuel reservoir had also penetrated the fuel tank in one of the prior similar incidents described in an exhibit. From the standpoint of safety, Arndt opined that there are basic engineering standards for the design of products. Once a hazard is identified, the engineer should attempt to design the hazard out of the product. If the hazard cannot be eliminated in the design process, then the engineer should design a guard or shield to protect the consumer from the hazard. If the guard or shield does not eliminate the hazard, then the consumer should be provided with a warning describing how to prevent the potential harm in the product. In Arndt's opinion, the fuel containment system in the Jablonskis' 1993 Lincoln Town Car was defective in that the fuel tank was located in the likely crush zone in a rear-end collision and was vulnerable to being punctured by items in the trunk. At the time of the manufacture of the Jablonskis' automobile, a safer and more practical location for the fuel tank would have been forward of the axle. Further, if Ford did not change the location of the fuel tank, it should have provided shields that protected it from being punctured by other component parts of the vehicle or items in the trunk and a guard that enabled consumers to

9

align items in the trunk laterally so they would be less likely to puncture the tank. Finally, Ford should have provided the consumer with a warning of the danger of objects in the trunk puncturing the fuel tank. The plaintiffs also introduced evidence regarding postcrash fires in rear-end collisions involving Panther platform Police Interceptor vehicles subsequent to the sale of the Jablonskis' 1993 Lincoln Town Car but before the 2003 accident. During this 10-year period, law enforcement agencies became increasingly aware of high-speed rear-end collisions in which police officers were injured or killed in postcrash fires in Police Interceptors. Typically, these accidents occurred when the officers were stopped on the side of major highways and were performing their duties. In some incidents, the fuel tank was breached by being crushed against component parts of the vehicle, and in others it was damaged by trunk contents. As a result of these incidents, police agencies began making complaints to Ford and to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In 2001, as a result of these complaints, Ford issued a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB), which was sent to all the Ford dealers. The TSB applied to 1992 to 2001 Crown Victorias, 1992 to 2001 Lincoln Town Cars, and 1992 to 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis. It noted that police agencies had reported postcrash fires in high-speed rear impacts, and it provided a recommended service procedure for vehicles "exposed to extremely high-speed rear impacts." Specifically, it instructed dealers to replace a hex-head bolt on a park-brake cable with a round-head bolt and to grind down a metal tab that protruded from a "U" bracket on the rear stabilizer bar axle attachment. These parts had been identified as having breached the fuel tank in high-speed rear-end collisions. The issuance of the TSB prompted the NHTSA, in October 2001, to open an investigation into postcrash fires in Ford's Panther platform vehicles. That investigation was completed in October of 2002, and the NHTSA required no action by Ford.

10

During 2002, police agencies continued to complain about the danger of postcrash fires, and government officials in both Florida and Arizona suggested that a moratorium should be declared on future purchases of Panther platform vehicles for use by law enforcement. In March of 2002, Janet Napolitano, then the Attorney General of Arizona, wrote a letter to Ford expressing concern about the incidence of fuel-fed fires in Police Interceptors. In June of 2002, Ford representatives met with Napolitano and then announced the formation of a "Blue Ribbon Panel" of Ford and law enforcement representatives that committed to a 90-day program to evaluate fuel system upgrades and police procedures as a part of a "Police Officer Safety Action Plan." In September of 2002, Ford and the Arizona Attorney General's office held a joint press conference and announced the actions taken and to be taken as a result of the 90-day program. First, Ford announced that it had developed a Police Interceptor package upgrade kit (Upgrade Kit). The Upgrade Kit consisted of shields designed to protect the fuel tank from being punctured by component parts identified as puncture hazards in high-speed rearend collisions. Ford had crash-tested the shields at 75 miles per hour and had found them effective. Second, the Blue Ribbon Panel announced recommendations for improved police safety procedures, including "Trunk Packing Considerations, 1" which advised officers on the placement of items in the trunk to reduce the potential for the fuel tank being ruptured by trunk contents. Third, Ford announced the development of an optional "Trunk Pack," consisting of a drop-in trunk liner made of high density polyethylene, which required the user to place objects in the trunk laterally rather than longitudinally. A sticker located on the
1

The material developed by Ford refers to "Trunk Packing Considerations." However,

the jury instructions used the phrase "Trunk Pack Recommendations." The two phrases were used interchangeably during the trial. We will use both phrases in this opinion and, to the extent possible, as they appear in the record. 11

Trunk Pack instructed the user to "align hard or sharp police equipment laterally." Finally, Ford announced the creation of a Web site where the law enforcement community could find information about the work of the Blue Ribbon Panel and updates on Ford's Police Interceptor design-safety efforts. In October of 2002, Ford notified, by first class mail, all the registered owners of Police Interceptors and all the United States Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury dealers of the availability of the Upgrade Kit. In March of 2003, Ford also notified its 32,000 government fleet customers. The Trunk Packing Considerations were available through the Web site and with the purchase of the optional Trunk Pack. Civilian owners of Panther platform vehicles, including the Jablonskis, received no notice of the availability of the Upgrade Kit, Trunk Pack, or Trunk Packing Considerations. The decision not to notify civilian users of Panther platform vehicles was made by Sue Cischke, a vice president and officer of Ford and the highest-ranking Ford employee responsible for vehicle safety. Cischke testified by

deposition that Ford chose not to notify civilian users because it was Ford's opinion that the risk of fuel-fed, postcrash fires in high-speed rear-impact collisions is unique to police users because police officers have significantly greater exposure to that type of collision. Ford, in its defense, presented extensive documentary and testimonial evidence in support of the safety of Panther platform vehicles. It defended the design of the 1993 Lincoln Town Car with the testimony of experts who opined that there was no defect in the fuel system, that a change in the location of the fuel tank would reduce the effectiveness of other desirable attributes of the Panther platform vehicles, and that, considering the overall design of the Panther platform vehicles, the fuel tank is in the best location for that vehicle. Ford also presented evidence that the Panther platform met and exceeded all United States government safety standards for its fuel containment system. Further, Ford introduced the NHTSA report on its investigation into the safety of the Panther platform fuel system in

12

which the NHTSA neither recommended nor required any change in Ford's design. Ford presented testimony that millions of Ford Panther platform vehicles had been driven for years with a small incidence of postcrash fires, suggesting that the design of the fuel system was reasonably safe. Finally, Ford presented evidence that the Jablonski accident was a unique occurrence since it was the only crash known in a Panther platform vehicle other than a Police Interceptor in which trunk contents punctured the fuel tank; therefore, Ford argued, a design change based upon such an unlikely occurrence was not warranted. Jack Ridenour, Jr., is a Ford employee in the design analysis department who heads a team of engineers who analyze the performance of Ford vehicles in the field, investigate crashes, and consult with engineers designing future vehicles. Among other duties, he analyzes the performance of fuel systems on Ford vehicles in crashes. As a mechanical engineer, Ridenour joined the fuel system design group at Ford in 1971 and worked in that group until 1977, designing and developing fuel systems for Ford. He has taught the fuel system engineering classes at Ford. Ridenour investigated the Jablonskis' accident and offered opinions about the safety of the 1993 Lincoln Town Car and the design of Panther platform vehicles. Ridenour testified that when he began working at Ford in 1971, Ford was well aware of the Severy research introduced by the plaintiffs. According to Ridenour, the Daniel memos introduced by the plaintiffs represent further research Ford did in response to the Severy article. Further, the document showing that Ford analyzed the cost of incorporating the design changes advocated by Severy and Daniel at $9.95 per vehicle confirmed that Ford was considering alternatives. Ridenour agreed that the over-the-axle design advocated by Severy and Daniel was superior to the under-the-trunk location for the fuel tank which was then being used, but he noted that those alternatives did not include the vertical-behind-theaxle location ultimately adopted for the Panther platform. According to Ridenour, once Ford

13

had fully tested the over-the-axle location, it was determined that it was not a workable design. Ridenour described the possible tank locations and explained the overall design process. He opined that there is no optimum fuel tank location for all cars. The design of the fuel system depends upon the design of the car, and the fuel system used by Ford in the Panther platform vehicles was designed for that type of car. The Panther platform vehicle is a large passenger automobile with a body-on-frame construction, rear-wheel drive, and a spacious trunk. If the fuel tank were moved in the Panther platform vehicle to the forwardof-the-axle location, the body-on-frame construction and rear-wheel drive would also have to be eliminated, and it would be a totally different car. In his opinion, the vertical-behindthe-axle fuel tank location was the best and safest design for the 1993 Lincoln Town Car and provided the most protection for occupants from all types of crashes. During his testimony, Ridenour identified, and Ford introduced into evidence, the certification package for 1993 Panther platform vehicles, including the Town Car, in which Ford certified that all of its Panther platform vehicles met federal motor vehicle safety standards. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 301 required that a vehicle withstand, with minimum fuel leakage, a rear impact with a nondeformable 4,000-pound barrier moving at 30 miles per hour. The 1993 Lincoln Town Car met this standard. In fact, the certification package revealed that Ford performed the FMVSS 301 testing at 35 miles per hour, and that the Town Car had passed. Ford also performed more rigorous internal testing which required that the Lincoln Town Car withstand, with minimal fuel leakage, three separate car-to-car fuel-system-integrity crash tests performed at 50 miles per hour, and the 1993 Town Car passed that testing as well. According to Ridenour, at the time of the production of the 1993 Lincoln Town Car, only Ford and General Motors had internal standards requiring testing at 50 miles per hour.

14

Ridenour acknowledged the design standards in Ford's fuel system engineering materials which require that an engineer design a hazard out of a product, guard against it, or provide a warning, but he testified that, in his opinion, Ford met those standards in the design of the Panther platform vehicles. He testified that Ford performed a thorough design review and located the fuel tank in the safest place for Panther platform vehicles. He also opined that Ford guarded against a penetration of the fuel tank by placing a steel trunk wall between the rear of the vehicle and the fuel tank. Ridenour testified that no warning was necessary, either in 1993 when the Jablonski vehicle was produced or thereafter, with regard to the danger of trunk contents puncturing the fuel tank. In his opinion, it was not reasonably foreseeable that a pipe wrench would puncture the fuel tank since Ford was unaware of any such incidents by 1993 and, prior to the Jablonskis' accident had knowledge of trunk content punctures in police vehicles only. Finally, Ridenour testified that, in his opinion, the Panther platform vehicles, including the Jablonskis' 1993 Lincoln Town Car, are reasonably safe in high-speed rear-end collisions. Walter Newell is the president and the lead investigator of Newell Investigative Services. He was hired by Ford to investigate the cause and origin of the Jablonski vehicle fire. At the time of the trial, he had been a fire investigator for 23 years and had investigated more than 3,000 vehicle fires. A majority of the postcollision vehicle fires he had

investigated involved vehicles with aft-of-axle fuel tanks. Newell agreed with the opinion of the plaintiffs' expert, Cam Cope, that the primary cause of the Jablonski vehicle fire was the leakage of fuel from the fuel tank as a result of the holes caused by the pipe wrench. He disagreed with Cope's additional conclusion that the smaller hole caused by the crushing of the low-fuel reservoir was a contributing cause of the fire. Ford called Dr. John Habberstad, a mechanical engineer and an expert in accident reconstruction, as an expert witness. Habberstad had been involved in accident

15

reconstruction for 35 years and had investigated more than 2,000 accidents. Based upon his investigation of this accident, he testified that the speed of Ingram's vehicle at impact was 65 miles per hour. He further testified that he had been involved in the investigation of many accidents in which a fuel tank was breached, and he stated that he had never observed a tank punctured by an item in the trunk. Finally, in his opinion, if the Upgrade Kit shields developed by Ford had been installed on the Jablonski vehicle, they would have had no effect on this accident. Mark Noble, a mechanical engineer and an expert in the analysis of auto accidents, was called as an expert witness by Ford. Noble began his career as an engineer in the fuel system department at Chrysler Corp. (Chrysler). Eventually, he supervised that department and was responsible for the design of the fuel systems in Chrysler vehicles. In 1980, he left Chrysler and has since worked as an expert in the analysis of auto accidents. In Noble's opinion, the Jablonski accident was a unique occurrence that resulted from a combination of factors not likely to be repeated. In his view, the speed of the Chevrolet Lumina that struck the Jablonski Town Car, the configuration of the Lumina, the alignment of the vehicles at impact, the location and alignment of the pipe wrench in the trunk, the type of trailer hitch on the Town Car, and other factors all combined to cause the pipe wrench to penetrate the fuel tank. Noble noted that, out of millions of Town Cars, this is the only known accident in which the fuel tank has been breached by an item in the trunk. If all the Panther platform vehicles are included, this is the only known incident in a non-police vehicle. According to Noble, this type of incident is so rare that the risk of trunk contents puncturing the fuel tank should be given little consideration in designing a fuel system. Noble opined that there is no optimum fuel tank location for all cars but that there may be an optimum location for a particular vehicle. In designing the location of a fuel tank, the features of a particular vehicle should be taken into account. According to Noble, the

16

Town Car has features that reduce the risk of fuel tank punctures, including a steel frame, a steel floor pan, and a deformable steel tank, as well as the fact that the tank is 40 inches from the rear bumper. In his opinion, the optimum location for the fuel tank in the 1993 Lincoln Town Car was the vertical-behind-the-axle location, as it was designed. Finally, it was Noble's opinion that the 1993 Lincoln Town Car is a "very safe overall vehicle" with a "very safe" fuel tank location. Sue Cischke, called as a witness by Ford, reiterated and expanded her testimony provided by deposition during the plaintiffs' case. As the highest-ranking safety officer at Ford, she explained Ford's safety philosophy in the design of its products. First, Ford meets all federal safety standards. Second, it makes voluntary agreements with other manufacturers to improve product safety and then treats compliance with those agreements the same as federal safety standards. Third, Ford has internal safety standards beyond the federal standards that it monitors with extensive product testing. Fourth, it strives to meet public domain guidelines such as those promoted by Consumer Reports. Finally, Ford continually develops and offers enhanced safety features. Cischke identified the NHTSA report of its investigation into postcrash fires resulting from high-speed rear-end collisions in Panther platform vehicles, and the report was admitted into evidence. The report required no action by Ford and, according to Cischke, supported her decision not to notify nonpolice users of Panther platform vehicles of the danger of trunk contents puncturing the fuel tank. Cischke confirmed her belief that any danger from trunk contents was limited to police vehicles due to their increased exposure to high-speed rear-end collisions. Since the Jablonski accident was the first such occurrence reported to Ford in a non-police vehicle, Ford had no basis upon which to believe that a warning was necessary for civilian users. Further, Cischke testified that, even if she had known of the Jablonski accident, she would not have warned civilian users based upon a single occurrence.

17

Cischke agreed that engineering safety standards require a manufacturer to first attempt to design a hazard out of a product and, if that is not possible, to shield or guard against the hazard and, if the hazard cannot be shielded, to then warn the consumer about the hazard. In her opinion, however, there was no foreseeable risk of trunk contents puncturing the fuel tank in Panther platform civilian vehicles and no safety hazard that required design consideration or warnings. Ford called Dr. Paul Taylor as an expert witness. Taylor is a mechanical engineer employed by Exponent Failure Analysis Associates, a nationwide firm involved in analyzing accidents. He is experienced in investigating accidents and in statistical analysis. Taylor disagreed with the similar-incident analysis of Mark Arndt and expressed the opinion that nothing in Arndt's lists of prior similar incidents provides proof that the 1993 Lincoln Town Car was unreasonably dangerous. Taylor analyzed the frequency of fatal rear-end collisions involving postcrash fires by comparing the number of vehicles involved in those incidents to the total number of vehicles of that type manufactured. Millions of 1993 Lincoln Town Cars were sold. According to Taylor, the number of 1993 Lincoln Town Cars involved in fatal rear-end collisions involving postcrash fires is only .0009% of the total number of those vehicles sold. In other words, 99.9991% of 1993 Lincoln Town Cars were not involved in that type of fatal collision. In Taylor's opinion, these statistics show that the 1993 Lincoln Town Car is not an unreasonably dangerous vehicle. Finally, Dr. Edward Caulfield, president of Packer Engineering, testified for Ford as an expert witness. Caulfield is a consultant in accident investigation. At Ford's request, he studied the strength of the frame on Panther platform vehicles, evaluated the cause of the Jablonski accident, and considered whether a guard would have prevented the accident. First, it was his opinion that the strength of the frame was appropriate, that placing the fuel tank within the frame was a good design, and that the design of the tank location was safe.

18

Second, he concluded that the pipe wrench puncturing the fuel tank was such a rare, unique, and unforeseeable event that a design engineer could not be expected to anticipate and design against such an occurrence. Third, after extensive testing to determine whether adding shields to the fuel tank would have prevented the postcrash fire in this case, it was his conclusion that there is no feasible alternative guarding design which would have prevented the pipe wrench from piercing the tank. Finally, in his opinion, the 1993 Lincoln Town Car has a reasonably safe design and Ford's engineers were not negligent in adopting that design. At the conclusion of all the evidence, the plaintiffs dismissed their claims for strict product liability and proceeded only on their negligence and willful-and-wanton-conduct counts. The trial court conducted a conference on jury instructions at which Ford objected to various instructions that were given by the court and submitted instructions that were refused. We will discuss those rulings in more detail below. After closing arguments, the case was submitted to the jury, which rendered verdicts in excess of $5 million for the injuries and death of John Jablonski, Sr., in excess of $23 million for the injuries of Dora Jablonski, and $15 million in punitive damages for Dora Jablonski. Ford's posttrial motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict or for a new trial was denied, and this appeal followed. ANALYSIS We begin by recognizing that the plaintiffs' compensatory-damages claims were submitted to the jury on a negligent-design theory. "Illinois cases considering a cause of action for defective products liability sounding in negligence rather than strict liability are rare, probably because it appears to plaintiffs that it is easier to prove the strict liability count." Blue v. Environmental Engineering, Inc., 215 Ill. 2d 78, 95, 828 N.E.2d 1128, 1141 (2005). Thus, we must first acknowledge the framework upon which the issues in this case must be analyzed.

19

To establish a product liability action asserting a claim based upon negligent product design, the plaintiff must establish, as in other negligence cases, "the existence of a duty of care owed by the defendant, a breach of that duty, an injury that was proximately caused by that breach, and damages." Calles v. Scripto-Tokai Corp. , 224 Ill. 2d 247, 270, 864 N.E.2d 249, 263 (2007). "The key distinction between a negligence claim and a strict liability claim lies in the concept of fault." Calles, 224 Ill. 2d at 270, 864 N.E.2d at 263. A strict liability claim is concerned only with the condition of the product, while "in a negligence claim, a defendant's fault is at issue in addition to the condition of the product." Calles, 224 Ill. 2d at 270, 864 N.E.2d at 263-64. Thus, in both types of cases alleging a product-design claim, the plaintiff must prove the existence of a defective condition in the product at the time it left the manufacturer's control. Carrizales v. Rheem Manufacturing Co., 226 Ill. App. 3d 20, 36, 589 N.E.2d 569, 580 (1991). In a negligent-product-design claim, the plaintiff must also provide evidence of "a standard of care by which to measure a defendant's design and establish a deviation from that standard." Blue, 215 Ill. 2d at 96, 828 N.E.2d at 1141. "A manufacturer is held to the degree of knowledge and skill of experts" (Anderson v. Hyster Co., 74 Ill. 2d 364, 368, 385 N.E.2d 690, 692 (1979)) and "has a nondelegable duty to design reasonably safe products." Calles, 224 Ill. 2d at 270, 864 N.E.2d at 264. An automobile manufacturer has a duty " 'to use reasonable care in the design and manufacture of its product, bearing in mind that the intended and actual use of automobiles results in collisions.' " Mack v. Ford Motor Co., 283 Ill. App. 3d 52, 56, 669 N.E.2d 608, 612 (1996) (quoting Buehler v. Whalen, 70 Ill. 2d 51, 61, 374 N.E.2d 460, 464-65 (1977)). "The crucial question in a negligent-design case is whether the manufacturer exercised reasonable care in the design of the product." Calles, 224 Ill. 2d at 270, 864 N.E.2d at 264. "In determining whether the manufacturer's conduct was reasonable, the question is 'whether in the exercise of ordinary care the manufacturer should have foreseen that the design would be hazardous

20

to someone.' " Calles, 224 Ill. 2d at 271, 864 N.E .2d at 264 (quoting American Law of Products Liability 3d

Download Jablonski v. Ford Motor Company.pdf