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Clark v. Mazda Motor Corporation3/4/2003
facturer such as Mazda, are as follows:
1) the product was the cause of the injury;
2) the defect existed in the product at the time the product left the manufacturer's possession and control;
3) the defect made the product unreasonably dangerous to the plaintiff or to the plaintiff's property. Kirkland, 1974 OK 52, -31, 521 P.2d 1353 at 1363.
Clark brings the instant manufacturers' products liability action alleging a defective seatback and/or seat design, a theory that calls into question the design of the seat's occupant restraint system in the Mazda 626 automobile. Defendants, (hereinafter referred to collectively as "Mazda,") assert it was Clark's failure to wear her lap belt, (a component of the Mazda 626 seat's occupant restraint system) that caused her body to be moved within the vehicle in such a way that the force of the final collision collapsed the driver's seat and ejected her from the car. Mazda seeks to offer evidence that Clark would not have been ejected had she worn the lap belt, to prove the seat back and/or seat design are not defective.
The lap belt, the shoulder belt, the driver's seat and seat back cumulatively comprise the seat's occupant restraint system in the Mazda 626. If we hold that Mazda may present evidence the lap belt was designed to keep occupants from being ejected and that this feature was not utilized by Clark, the holding is harmonious with our decision in Bishop to allow the plaintiff therein to introduce seat belt evidence pertaining to automobile design, as opposed to any negligence or fault of the plaintiff, the latter of which is prohibited by § 12-420.
We are confident that our limitation of evidence regarding seat belt use to those products liability actions in which the vehicle seat's occupant restraint system is at issue adequately safeguards against Clark's concern that auto manufacturers will claim seat belts are "safety components" in all manufacturers' products liability cases. The shoulder belt, lap belt, driver's seat and seat back are either physically connected to each other or are so closely aligned in the Mazda 626 as to be a part of the seat's occupant restraint system.
Clark contends the statute requires only that she wear the shoulder belt. While no legal authority is cited for her conclusion, we note that Clark's compliance with the seat belt statute is not at issue herein. Clark apparently contends she complied with the statute in an effort to demonstrate a defect in Mazda seat's occupant restraint system, reasoning that the shoulder belt alone should have restrained her from being ejected, and since it failed to do so, the driver's seat and/or seat back are defective in design. However, she cannot selectively eliminate evidence pertaining to certain components of the seat's occupant restraint system such as the lap belt, while offering evidence as to other elements such as the shoulder belt, driver's seat and seat bracket. Such an attempt misconstrues our holding in Bishop and ignores the statutory intent pertaining to § 12-420 we articulated therein.
The question is answered as follows: 47 O.S. 2001, §12-420, as interpreted in Bishop v. Takata Corp., 2000 OK 71, 12 P.3d 459, does not bar the admission of evidence of the use or non-use of seat belts in a manufacturer's products liability crashworthiness case.
QUESTION ANSWERED.
Concur - Opala, V.C.J., Hodges, Hargrave, Summers and Winchester, JJ.
Concur in Result - Watt, C.J. (joins Kauger, J.), Lavender (joins Kauger, J.), Kauger and Boudreau (joins Kauger, J.) JJ.
OPALA, V.C.J., with whom SUMMERS, J., joins in part, concurring
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