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Brown v. Crown Equipment Corp.10/27/2005
tility to be too expensive; (5) the ability of the operator or user to avoid danger through the exercise of care in using the product; (6) the user's anticipated awareness of the product's inherent dangers and their avoidability; and (7) the feasibility of the manufacturer spreading the loss by setting the price of the product or maintaining liability insurance. Id. at 532-33, 533 n. 10.
In granting a directed verdict in favor of Crown, the trial court held that absent expert testimony the plaintiffs failed to offer proof that Crown's forklifts were unreasonably dangerous. Through admissible expert testimony, the plaintiffs presented evidence regarding the likelihood and probable seriousness of injury to an operator of a stand- up forklift without a door and the operator's inability to avoid the danger. The plaintiffs also provided expert proof that the inclusion of a door would prevent the injury without hindering the overall usefulness and safety of the product. Upon viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the plaintiffs as the nonmoving parties, we conclude that reasonable minds could disagree with the trial court's conclusion that the plaintiffs failed to present proof that Crown's stand-up forklifts were unreasonably dangerous. Accordingly, the trial court erred in granting Crown's motion for a directed verdict on the plaintiffs' claims that Crown's stand-up forklifts were defective and unreasonably dangerous.
CONCLUSION
We hold that the trial court erred in finding that application of all the McDaniel factors was mandated and in applying those factors when they failed to provide a reasonable measure of the reliability of the experts' methodologies. We further conclude that the trial court erred in granting Crown's motion for a directed verdict on the plaintiffs' claims that Crown's stand-up forklifts are defective and unreasonably dangerous. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Costs of appeal are taxed to the appellee, Crown Equipment Corporation, and its sureties, for which execution may issue if necessary.
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