General Motors Corp. v. Saenz

829 S.W.2d 230, 1991 WL 247457
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 28, 1992
Docket13-90-072-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 829 S.W.2d 230 (General Motors Corp. v. Saenz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
General Motors Corp. v. Saenz, 829 S.W.2d 230, 1991 WL 247457 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinions

OPINION

HINOJOSA, Justice.

General Motors Corporation (GM) challenges a jury verdict finding it liable under theories of strict liability and negligence for failing to adequately warn users against overloading a GM truck cab and chassis. The key issues concern whether the truck’s subsequent modification exonerates GM from liability. We affirm.

GM manufactured and sold a Chevrolet C-50 cab and chassis in 1972. The truck was sold bare, without a body. After the sale, the buyer installed an apparatus designed for towing trucks. The truck served this purpose for fifteen years.

The towing equipment was dismantled and the truck was sold to Sascon, a paving company. Sascon placed a 2000 gallon water tank on the truck chassis and made other modifications. The tank was so large and installed so high over the chassis, that when it was fully loaded, the truck’s weight exceeded its rated gross vehicle weight and its center of gravity was dangerously high.

When the truck was sold to Sascon, the owner’s manual was in the glove box and a metal plate noting the truck’s gross vehicle weight was attached to the door. Sascon employees did not consult either the owner’s manual or the door plate before adding the tank. Sascon’s owner testified that he would not have installed such a large tank had he been adequately warned against overloading the truck.

Other modifications were made, and the truck was then sold to Cantu Lease, another paving company. Cantu Lease filled the water tank either partially or completely full with water, exceeding the truck’s gross vehicle weight. Josué Ramirez and Ricardo Saenz were instructed to drive the truck to a job site. While travelling at highway speeds, one of the truck’s two right rear tires experienced a severe blowout. The other tire rapidly lost inflation, and Saenz lost control. Because the truck was overloaded, it became unstable and rolled. Both drivers were thrown from the truck and died of their injuries.

At trial, appellees argued that GM was both negligent and strictly liable for the injuries caused by the accident because it failed to clearly and adequately warn Sas-con not to improperly modify the truck, and [235]*235GM failed to warn Cantu Lease and the ultimate users not to overload the truck. The jury found GM liable for 70% of the damages under negligence and strict products theories, and Sascon liable for the remainder. Damages totalling $4,784,-447.06 in addition to ad litem fees and post-judgment interest were assessed. GM appeals by eleven points of error.

In GM’s first point of error it asserts it had no duty to warn because it could not foresee that a water tank would be placed on the truck. GM argues that Sascon, and not GM had the duty to warn because the truck was substantially modified by Sascon. In support of its arguments, GM relies upon Verge v. Ford Motor Co., 581 F.2d 384 (3rd Cir.1978), Elliott v. Century Chevrolet Co., 597 S.W.2d 563 (Tex.Civ.App.—Fort Worth 1980, writ ref’d n.r.e.), and Trevino v. Yamaha Motor Co., 882 F.2d 182 (5th Cir.1989).

Appellee argues that GM had a duty to warn both the ultimate users and Sascon because the dangers of overloading and high center of gravity were foreseeable for all uses of the cab and chassis.

In Verge, a truck manufacturer built and sold a bare cab and chassis. A second-stage manufacturer converted it into a garbage truck. In this configuration the rear window was blocked. The plaintiff, who was injured when the truck backed into him, sued the truck manufacturer and the second-stage manufacturer (modifier) alleging strict liability. See Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A. The second-stage manufacturer settled and the plaintiff went to trial against the truck manufacturer. He alleged that the truck was defectively designed because it did not include a backup buzzer. The jury found for the plaintiff, and the manufacturer appealed.1

The Third Circuit considered the problem presented by these facts as one of allocation of responsibility between the two manufacturers. The Court developed a three part test for allocating responsibility, and held that Ford was not responsible as a matter of law for failing to install a back up buzzer. The court reasoned that for many, if not most, uses of the chassis the backup buzzer was not necessary. The Court concluded that it was not feasible for Ford to install a backup buzzer on every truck, and held the second stage manufacturer was responsible for this defect. The Verge court specifically limited this holding to the facts. Id. at 389.

In Trevino the Fifth Circuit, following Verge and Elliott, affirmed a summary judgment against the plaintiff. The evidence in Trevino indicated that the cause of the injuries was the plaintiff’s pants leg became caught in a latch protruding from a “pickup-type body” installed by a second-stage manufacturer, and not Yamaha. Plaintiff claimed Yamaha had a duty to warn against the defect.

The court held that Yamaha was not responsible for the defect which caused the injury, and affirmed summary judgment.

Verge, Elliott, and Trevino, are distinguishable. Additions to the bare cab and chassis were not only foreseeable, but expected. Almost every foreseeable modification of the GM chassis at issue involved carrying heavy loads. An adequate warning regarding loading was therefore necessary for almost every use.

Unlike Trevino, in which the evidence showed that the injury was caused exclusively by a protruding latch installed by a second-stage manufacturer, the evidence here shows that a cause of the injury was GM’s failure to warn.

Thus, these decisions are factually distinguishable.2 However, more significant than the factual distinctions between this case and Verge, are the legal distinctions. Our decision today is guided not by a three part test developed in the Third Circuit, but rather by traditional legal principles gov[236]*236erning liability in negligence and strict liability for failure to warn.

When GM’s arguments are analyzed under these principles, it is apparent that it had a duty to adequately warn Sascon and the ultimate users of the risks associated with overloading and high center of gravity.3 The general rule in Texas is that duty in negligence is based primarily on foreseeability of risk: “The risk reasonably to be perceived defines the duty to be obeyed.” Greater Houston Transp. Co. v. Phillips, 801 S.W.2d 523, 526 (Tex.1990) (quoting Palsgraf v. Long Island R.R. Co., 248 N.Y. 339, 162 N.E. 99, 100 (1928).4 Whether a duty exists is a question of law for the court.

Under negligence and strict products liability theories, the manufacturer’s duty is to adequately warn a product’s users of foreseeable risks. The specific question to be answered in this case is whether it was foreseeable that persons would be injured due to overloading and the resulting instability of the C-50 cab and chassis.

The evidence showed that it was foreseeable that overloading of this truck could cause injuries.

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Bluebook (online)
829 S.W.2d 230, 1991 WL 247457, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/general-motors-corp-v-saenz-texapp-1992.