Our Boston car accident lawyers understand the importance of arguing for jury instructions helpful to the plaintiff’s case.
In Reis v. Volvo Cars of North America, as reported in the New York State Law Reporting Bureau, the court applied a standard of care instruction applicable to malpractice cases in a products liability action.
In Reis, the plaintiff was looking at a 15-year-old car that had recently been bought by a friend. The plaintiff was examining the engine with the hood raised when his friend asked him if he would like to see what the engine looks like when it is running. The friend then started the engine while the car was in a forward gear. This car had an older style manual transmission that did not require the car to be in neutral when started. When the car was started in what was probably first gear, it lurched forward and crushed the plaintiff between the front bumper and a wall.
As a result of being crushed by the car, the plaintiff had severe damage to his leg, and that leg was eventually amputated. The plaintiff sued to recover compensation for his personal injury under a theory of negligence – specifically, that the defendant car manufacturer knew or should have known that the car was likely to lurch forward when started in gear and should have included an ignition interlock to prevent this from occurring.
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