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Adelman v. Lupo6/11/1996
The opinion of the court was delivered by D'ANNUNZIO, J.A.D.
Plaintiffs appeal from a judgment entered on a jury determination that defendant Chrysler Corporation's vehicle was not defective. A judgment entered against co-defendant Joseph A. Lupo in the amount of $2,750,000 has not been appealed.
On March 1, 1991, plaintiff was alone, driving home in her 1987 Jeep Grand Wagoneer on Route 208. Plaintiff's vehicle was proceeding in the middle lane of the three northbound lanes when the engine stopped running. Plaintiff's vehicle eventually came to rest in the extreme right-hand lane against the curb. There was no shoulder adjacent to the traveled lanes at this point of the highway and, because of the curb, plaintiff could move no farther to the right.
Several vehicles proceeding in the right-hand lane slowed as they approached plaintiff's stopped vehicle and eventually drove around her. A good samaritan, Carolyn Welch, stopped behind plaintiff's vehicle to see if she could be of assistance. Plaintiff and Welch emerged from their vehicles and walked towards each other. At that time, co-defendant Joseph Lupo was operating a vehicle in the right-hand lane and was unable to stop. He struck the Welch vehicle in the rear, pushing it into plaintiff and crushing her legs between the front of the Welch vehicle and the rear of plaintiff's vehicle. Plaintiff sustained very serious injuries.
Plaintiffs' claims against Joseph Lupo and the Chrysler Corporation were tried to a jury. As previously indicated, judgment was entered against Joseph Lupo based on the jury's determination that he had been negligent in the operation of his vehicle and that his negligence was a proximate cause of plaintiff's injuries. This appeal concerns only plaintiffs' claim against Chrysler Corporation.
The engine stalled because an overheated check valve burned through a convoluted conduit; a conduit is a covering which protects an engine wire harness consisting of a bundle of wires. After burning through the conduit, the valve also burned through the insulation covering the wires, causing the electrical system to short circuit. No one disputes this sequence of events or that these events were the cause of the engine's failure.
The electrical harness ran from the front to the rear of the engine along the engine's right bank. As previously indicated, it was protected by a nylon conduit which fit over the harness like a sleeve. In the vicinity of the check valve, the conduit was secured through the use of "L" brackets and rosebud clips. The "L" brackets were attached to the engine's valve cover approximately fourteen to fifteen inches apart. A rosebud clip was attached to each bracket, and the conduit ran through the circular rosebud clips. These clips were approximately fifteen inches apart. As designed by Chrysler, the conduit at the rear of the engine was to be located on the inboard side of the "L" bracket. On the date of plaintiff's injury, the rear clip and the conduit were located outboard of the "L" bracket. The outboard location brought the conduit closer to the check valve than it would have been had the rear clip been mounted inboard.
The engine had two check valves, one on the right side and one on the left side. These valves were part of the engine's emission control system. They permitted air to flow into the exhaust system through the top of the valve. However, the valve contained a diaphragm which prevented hot exhaust gases from flowing into the top of the valve, i.e., in the opposite direction from the airflow. It was uncontroverted that at the time of plaintiff's injury neither valve was functioning properly because both valves were badly corr
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