§ 12-690 — Duty of care; admissibility of evidence in certain motor vehicle accidents; definition

A. In any civil action where a covered motor vehicle is involved in an accident, there is no obligation or duty of care for an owner, lessor or operator of the covered motor vehicle, or for a person renting or leasing the covered motor vehicle to another person, to retrofit the covered motor vehicle with component parts or optional equipment, or to have selected component parts or optional equipment to be included on the covered motor vehicle, if such parts or equipment were not required by the federal motor vehicle safety standards under 49 Code of Federal Regulations part 571 applicable when the covered motor vehicle was manufactured or first sold. Evidence related to such an alleged obligation or duty is inadmissible.

B. This section does not apply if the owner, lessor or operator of the covered motor vehicle, or the person renting or leasing the covered motor vehicle to another person, fails to comply with a law or regulation issued after the covered motor vehicle was manufactured or first sold requiring a mandatory recall or retrofit of the covered motor vehicle.

C. For the purposes of this section, "covered motor vehicle" means a motor vehicle for which the owner's liability for an accident is governed by 49 United States Code section 30106.