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Torts — expert witnesses

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//September 21, 2011//

Torts — expert witnesses

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//September 21, 2011//

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United States Court of Appeals

CIVIL

Torts

Expert witnesses

Expert testimony is required to prove a product had a design defect.

“Counsel for the plaintiffs repeat the mantra that cars ‘just don’t roll over in low-speed collisions’ unless defectively designed. How do they know that? The record doesn’t tell us even why this car rolled over, let alone what cars usually do in particular kinds of collisions—or what design changes could reduce the rollover rate, by how much. Plaintiffs say that the second car struck the Explorer near the left rear wheel. Perhaps this caused the Explorer to pivot, with the rear wheels suddenly moving to the right. Then the Explorer’s body would be going in the same direction as before, but the car’s wheels would be inclined 45 degrees, perhaps more, to the line of travel. The Explorer’s own forward speed, not momentum transferred from the colliding vehicle, could cause a rollover. The wheels, now pointed at a steep angle to the line of travel, would cause the bottom of the car to decelerate rapidly (and the car as a whole to veer), while the top of the car retained its forward energy. When the wheels are pointed in the direction of travel, the car’s center of gravity remains within the wheelbase during rapid deceleration and a rollover cannot occur; but when wheels are perpendicular to the line of travel, a tilt in the direction of travel can put the center of gravity outside the wheelbase, and the car will roll over. Many articles available on the Internet discuss the physics of this process. See, e.g., http://mb-soft.com/public/rollover.html. Understanding requires some geometry and algebra; jurors’ unguided intuitions will not solve the equations. Without an expert’s assistance the decision would depend on speculation, which cannot establish causation—an issue on which plaintiffs bear both the burden of production and the risk of non-persuasion.”

Affirmed.

10-2428 & 10-2637 Show v. Ford Motor Co.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Denlow, Mag. J., Easterbrook, J.

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