Cole v. Ford Motor Co.

900 P.2d 1059, 136 Or. App. 45, 1995 Ore. App. LEXIS 1105
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedAugust 2, 1995
Docket9305-03143; CA A83939
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 900 P.2d 1059 (Cole v. Ford Motor Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cole v. Ford Motor Co., 900 P.2d 1059, 136 Or. App. 45, 1995 Ore. App. LEXIS 1105 (Or. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinions

[47]*47LEESON, J.

Plaintiff brought this products liability action seeking damages for personal injuries suffered when the van in which she was a passenger crashed into a guard rail. Defendants Ford Motor Company and Landmark Ford, the van’s manufacturer and seller respectively, appeal from a judgment entered after a jury awarded plaintiff $375,000. They challenge the trial court’s denial of their motion for a directed verdict. Alternatively, they seek a remand for a new trial. We affirm.

On August 30,1991, plaintiffs husband purchased a new Ford Aerostar van from Landmark. The van was equipped with a cruise control system. That system is operated by five buttons located on the van’s steering wheel: “on” and “off’ buttons on the left side and “set,” “resume” and “coast” buttons on the right side. When the system operates properly, it is activated when the driver presses the “on” button, and is engaged when the driver accelerates the vehicle to any desired cruising speed above 35 miles per hour and then presses the “set” button. The vehicle is supposed to maintain the set speed until the driver presses the “off’ or the “coast” button, or, alternatively, depresses the brake pedal. After pressing the brake, the driver can return to the previously set cruising speed by pressing the “resume” button, and need not reactivate the system by pressing the “on” button. Additionally, turning off the ignition switch deactivates a properly operating system.

A few days after purchasing the van, plaintiff and her husband drove it from their home near Hillsboro to the coast, where they spent the night. During the trip, plaintiff s husband tested the cruise control system, which properly engaged and disengaged. On September 3, 1991, on the return trip, as they were nearing home, husband pressed the brake pedal to slow down and the van “just took off wide open,” accelerating through a stop sign. Husband negotiated one turn, but then crashed the van into a guard rail. The van’s right front wheel was torn off and the impact crushed plaintiffs foot.

At the request of plaintiffs insurer, the damaged van was taken to Talbott Associates, Inc., a consulting engineering firm, where, on October 21,1991, it was inspected and the [48]*48cruise control system was tested by Cronrath, a mechanical engineer, and Warrens and Brown, two experienced mechanics. Talbott was instructed to limit its inspection to a determination of whether the cruise control system was functioning properly. It was also instructed not to diagnose any malfunction it might discover. Specifically, Talbott was to avoid dismantling the system so that it would remain intact for inspection by defendants.

The van remained in storage until August 13, 1993, when it was purchased by Horne, who subsequently had it repaired and restored. The van’s cruise control was tested again on March 7, 1994, by Myers, a consulting engineer for defendants. An engineer from Ford, Declercq, tested the van in early August 1994, about a week before trial.

Plaintiff’s strict products liability claim, ORS 30.920, alleged in part:

“10
“The Ford Van manufactured by Ford Motor Company and sold by Landmark Ford was unreasonably dangerous and defective in one or more of the following particulars:
“a. In distributing a Ford Van with a cruise control mechanism which uncontrollably and unexpectedly accelerated.
“c. In distributing a Ford Van with a malfunctioning cruise control mechanism.
“ e. In distributing a Ford Van with a cruise control that failed to disengage on use of the designated controls.”1

The jury returned a general verdict for plaintiff, finding that the van was “defective in one or more of the ways alleged in plaintiffs complaint,” and that one or more of the alleged defects caused the damage to plaintiff. Defendants assign error to the trial court’s denial of their motion for a directed verdict, arguing that plaintiff produced “no evidence from which the jury could conclude that more probably than not the cruise control malfunctioned in a way that caused the [49]*49sudden acceleration” described by plaintiff. (Emphasis in original.)

Plaintiff and defendants disagree about our standard of review. Defendants rely on Griffin v. K.E. McKay’s Market of Coos Bay, Inc., 125 Or App 448, 865 P2d 1320 (1993), rev den 319 Or 80 (1994), contending that on review we must determine whether there was a preponderance of evidence to show causation, and that we should uphold the judgment only if “a reasonable person could draw just one inference from the evidence.” Id. at 450-51.2 Plaintiff argues that, as the nonmoving party, she is entitled to the benefit of every reasonable inference that may be drawn from the evidence when it is viewed in the light most favorable to her. Faverty v. McDonald’s Restaurants, 133 Or App 514, 892 P2d 703 (1995). Plaintiff is correct.

Defendant’s reliance on Griffin is misplaced, because in that case error was assigned to the trial court’s granting of a motion for a directed verdict. After denial of a motion for a directed verdict, we cannot reverse a judgment on a jury verdict unless there is no evidence from which the jury could have found the facts necessary to support the elements of plaintiffs cause of action. Brown v. J. C. Penney Co., 297 Or 695, 705, 688 P2d 811 (1984) (citing Or Const, Art VII (amended), § 3). We do not weigh the evidence, but consider it, including all inferences, in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Id. We resolve evidentiary conflicts in plaintiffs favor. Ewen v. McLean Trucking Co., 70 Or App 595, 599, 689 P2d 1309 (1984), rev’d on other grounds 300 Or 24, 706 P2d 929 (1985).

Defendants argue that plaintiff did not show that the cruise control malfunctioned in a way that caused the accident. They concede that there was evidence from which a jury could conclude that the cruise control did not properly disengage in response to depressing the brake pedal, if in fact plaintiff had set it on the drive home from the coast. However, they claim that the evidence is undisputed that the cruise [50]*50control cannot be engaged if the ignition has been turned off since the last time the system was activated unless the “on” button is first pressed. Furthermore, they assert that there was no expert testimony to support the theory that the cruise control system could spontaneously reactivate. They contend that, because husband testified that he did not press the “on” button after having turned off the ignition at the restaurant during the return trip from the coast, the cruise control could not have engaged to cause the accident.

Although it is true that both parties’ experts testified that the cruise control could not be engaged unless it was first activated by pressing the “on” button, at least three of those experts appeared to be limiting that conclusion to a properly functioning system. Defense witnesses Declercq and Myers testified unequivocally that the cruise control system could not have engaged in the manner claimed by plaintiff, and that the system operated properly when it was road tested after the van had been rebuilt by Horne.

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Cole v. Ford Motor Co.
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Bluebook (online)
900 P.2d 1059, 136 Or. App. 45, 1995 Ore. App. LEXIS 1105, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cole-v-ford-motor-co-orctapp-1995.