Hancock v. Paccar, Inc.

283 N.W.2d 25, 204 Neb. 468, 5 A.L.R. 4th 462, 1979 Neb. LEXIS 1125
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 4, 1979
Docket41938
StatusPublished
Cited by76 cases

This text of 283 N.W.2d 25 (Hancock v. Paccar, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hancock v. Paccar, Inc., 283 N.W.2d 25, 204 Neb. 468, 5 A.L.R. 4th 462, 1979 Neb. LEXIS 1125 (Neb. 1979).

Opinions

Krivosha, C. J.

Defendant (Paccar) appeals from a jury verdict entered in favor of plaintiff and against Paccar in the amount of $251,180 resulting from the death of plaintiff’s husband while operating a tractor-trailer on Interstate Highway No. 80 in York County, Nebraska. We first note that this case might have been entitled “Friedrich II.” See Friedrich v. Anderson, 191 Neb. 724, 217 N. W. 2d 831. To a large extent, the review in this case, as in Friedrich v. Anderson, supra, requires an examination of the doctrine of strict liability as it applies to an alleged defective design and the effect such defect may have within the concept of “an enhanced injury.” We have made such a review, together with a review of other errors assigned by defendant in this case, and conclude that the verdict of the jury should be affirmed.

The facts involved in this case disclose that about 5 a.m., on September 12, 1971, plaintiff’s husband, Lowell Burton Hancock (deceased), was operating a certain 1969 Kenworth cab-over tractor owned by Scott Truck Lines, Inc., in an easterly direction on [471]*471interstate 80 in York County, Nebraska. The tractor was pulling a trailer loaded with about 35,000 pounds of fresh beef. At a location about 1 y2 miles east of the Waco, Nebraska, interchange, the tractor, which was then traveling at a speed of approximately 60 miles per hour, struck a deer on the highway. The impact of the deer on the truck was severe and resulted in the left side of the front bumper being bent backwards in a V-shape at the place where the bumper passed in front of the left front wheel. The bumper, as bent, was wedged between the inside of the left front wheel and the adjoining framerail. This forced the front wheel in a left turning position and locked it in place, which prevented the deceased from controlling or steering the truck. The tractor and trailer turned in a left direction, left the highway, and entered the median adjacent to the highway. Upon its entry into the median, the unit rolled over and slid into a guardrail which protruded from a nearby bridge abutment. This impact resulted in the death of deceased.

The 1969 Kenworth cab-over tractor which deceased was driving at the time of his collision was manufactured and sold by Paccar in 1969. The front bumper on the tractor, which was only 5 inches in front of the wheel, extended the full width of the front of the tractor. It was made of lightweight aluminum and had several cutouts and holes in the face of the bumper directly in front of the wheel area. These holes were located exactly where the bumper bent after impact. The outer ends of the bumper were not braced to the body of the tractor and were simply cantilevered.

Plaintiff, by her third amended petition, sought recovery on two separate causes of action. The first cause of action was based upon a common law theory of negligence and alleged that Paccar was negligent with regard to the design of the front bumper because (1) the bumper was too long, (2) the [472]*472bumper contained cutouts and holes, (3) the bumper was not braced at the ends, (4) the bumper was not made of alternative materials which would either not deform or would yield upon impact before blocking the steering, and (5) the bumper was not tested or inspected.

The second cause of action was based upon the doctrine of strict liability alleging that Paccar placed the bumper on the market without inspection at a time when the design was defective and not reasonably fit for ordinary and foreseeable uses. Paccar admitted that the collision occurred, but denied any liability. After trial the jury returned a verdict for plaintiff and against Paccar in the amount of $251,180.

Paccar assigns multiple errors, which for simplicity and convenience can best be summarized and grouped into several general categories. As so summarized and grouped, the assignments of error are as follows: (1) That the trial court erred in failing to direct a verdict in favor of Paccar and against plaintiff; (2) that the trial court erred in submitting certain instructions to the jury which were not supported in the evidence; (3) that the trial court erred in refusing to give certain instructions requested by Paccar; and (4) that the trial court erred in permitting the introduction of certain testimony. We shall address the various groups in the order in which they are listed above.

Paccar’s right to a directed verdict, made either at the close of the plaintiff’s case or after all of the evidence, could only be sustained if one of two situations existed: (1) If there was insufficient evidence to create a question of fact for the jury to consider; or (2) under the theories of law pleaded by the plaintiff, plaintiff could not recover as a matter of law.

We first address the legal theories. If the plaintiff could prove that Paccar did in fact design a bumper [473]*473in a negligent manner and the negligence was the proximate cause of deceased’s injury and death, then under a common law theory of negligence, plaintiff could recover. “ ‘A manufacturer who fails to exercise reasonable care in the manufacture of a chattel which, unless carefully made, he should recognize as involving an unreasonable risk of causing substantial bodily harm to those who lawfully use it for a purpose for which it is manufactured and to those whom the supplier should expect to be in the vicinity of its probable use, is subject to liability for bodily harm caused to them by its lawful use in a manner and for a purpose for which it is manufactured.’ ” Rose v. Buffalo Air Service, 170 Neb. 806, 104 N. W. 2d 431.

“ ‘In principle, a manufacturer or other person owning or controlling a thing that is dangerous in its nature or is in a dangerous condition, either to his knowledge or as a result of his want of reasonable care in manufacture or inspection, who deals with or disposes of that thing in a way that he foresees or in the exercise of reasonable care ought to foresee will probably carry that thing into contact with some person, known or unknown, who will probably be ignorant of the danger, owes a legal duty to every such person to use reasonable care to prevent injury to him. * * * In the application of the principle it is immaterial whether or not the conduct of a defendant amounted to a breach of the contract between him and the immediate buyer from him. The duty is not created by contract, but is an instance of the general human duty not to injure another through disregard of his safety.’ ” Colvin v. Powell & Co., Inc., 163 Neb. 112, 77 N. W. 2d 900. Whether Paccar’s acts in this case fall within the legally impermissible spectrum so as to bring about liability is a question of fact for the jury to decide. Graham v. Simplex Motor Rebuilders, Inc., 189 Neb. 507, 203 N. W. 2d 494. If the evidence was sufficient to raise a [474]*474proper question of fact, a matter we shall review momentarily, Paccar was not entitled to a directed verdict as a matter of law as against the plaintiff’s theory of liability under common law negligence.

The question of liability under a theory of strict liability poses a different question but in the final analysis the same result. In the case of Friedrich v. Anderson, 191 Neb. 724, 217 N. W. 2d 831, we held: “* * * a manufacturer of goods has a duty to use reasonable care in the design of goods to protect those who will use the goods from unreasonable risk of harm while the goods are being used for their intended purpose or any purpose which could be reasonably expected.

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Bluebook (online)
283 N.W.2d 25, 204 Neb. 468, 5 A.L.R. 4th 462, 1979 Neb. LEXIS 1125, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hancock-v-paccar-inc-neb-1979.