Sandford v. Chevrolet Division of General Motors
642 P.2d 624 · Oregon Supreme Court · 1982
Facts
Plaintiff suffered extensive burns when a pickup truck that she was driving overturned and caught fire. She brought an action for damages against a number of defendants, alleging that the accident was caused by a defective tire manufactured by defendant Uniroyal, Inc., and mounted on the truck by The Tire Factory. The defendants alleged that plaintiff's own negligence caused her injuries, and the jury found defendants 55% at fault and plaintiff 45% at fault, awarding plaintiff a corresponding fraction of her total damages.
Issue
Does Oregon’s proportionate fault statute, ORS 18.470, bar or reduce recovery of damages for injuries caused by a defective product when the plaintiff was contributorily negligent?
Holding
The Court of Appeals decision is affirmed, reversing the trial court's judgment and remanding the case for a new trial because the jury was not properly polled to ensure that at least three-fourths of the jurors concurred on each separate element required for the verdict.
Rule
An injured person’s conduct which in fact was a cause of her injury and which constitutes a “fault,” including negligence, is to be considered in a products liability action, unless the user’s alleged negligence consists in the kind of unobservant, inattentive, ignorant, or awkward failure to discover or to guard against the defect that goes toward making the product dangerously defective in the first place.
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