DR. BERNARD COHEN AND FLORENCE COHEN, HIS WIFE, APPELLANTS,
v.
GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION, CADILLAC DIVISION, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1983-03-09
No. 82-462
LETTS, C.J., and DELL, J., concur.
427 So. 2d 389 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1983) Caution
Cited by 17 cases

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Synopsis

Cohen sought damages from General Motors for injuries sustained when he manually released a parking brake on a 1978 Cadillac that was running and in gear, claiming the car was defective and inadequately warned. The court affirmed summary judgment for GM, finding no defect existed, no proximate causation linked to any defect, and no duty to warn of obvious dangers.


Holding

The court held that: (1) no defect existed because the designers anticipated the automatic brake's potential failure and provided a functioning manual alternative; (2) strict liability and implied warranty claims failed due to absence of defect and lack of proximate causation; and (3) negligence claim failed because the danger of releasing the brake while the car was running and in gear was obvious, creating no duty to warn.


Headnotes

[1] A mechanical convenience malfunctioning does not necessarily render a product legally defective.

[2] Proximate causation is absent when the injury results from the use of a properly functioning alternative mechanism, not the failure of the primary mechanism.

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Key Quotes

“The fact that a mechanical convenience malfunctions does not necessarily mean that it is legally defective.”

Establishes that malfunction alone does not create strict liability; a true defect must exist.

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Facts & Procedural History

Cohen assisted a driver whose automatic parking brake had malfunctioned on a 1978 Cadillac. Though aware of the manual brake release location from his…

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Opinion of the Court
HERSEY, Judge.

HERSEY, Judge.

This is an appeal from a summary judgment in favor of defendant, General Motors Corporation, in an action for personal injuries based upon strict liability, breach of implied warranty of reasonable fitness for use, and negligence.

When the automatic parking brake release of a 1978 Cadillac malfunctioned, appellant, Cohen, came to the driver’s assistance. The automobile designers had anticipated that this automatic feature might not function and provided an emergency manual brake release as well. Cohen was aware of the location of the manual release lever under the dash because he owned a Cadillac and had read the owner’s manual. The vehicle was running, sitting on an incline and in gear (Reverse), although the driver told appellant it was in “park.” Cohen positioned himself in such a manner that when he released the parking brake, the car moved backward over his leg, injuring him.

Appellant Cohen alleged that the car was defective and the owner’s manuals were inadequate for failing to advise the reader to place the car in park or to utilize the footbrake when manually disengaging the emergency brake.

We are asked to review the summary judgment entered by the lower court. The counts in strict liability and implied warranty are premised on the existence of a defect and no defect was shown. While it is true that the automatic brake release failed to work, the automobile designers anticipated this very contingency and provided an alternate manual release. The fact that a mechanical convenience malfunctions does not necessarily mean that it is legally defective.

Moreover, the requisite proximate causation is not present. It was not the failure of the automatic brake release but the appellant’s use of the properly functioning manual brake release which allowed the ear to roll, injuring appellant. Thus the summary judgment was appropriate on these two counts.

Turning to the negligence action, appellee is charged with breaching the duty to warn by failing to specifically instruct the user to shift the car into neutral gear or engage the foot brake while manually releasing the emergency brake.

A duty to warn arises where a product is inherently dangerous or has dangerous propensities. Dayton Tire & Rubber Co. v. Davis, 348 So. 2d 575 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977) rev’d on other grounds, 358 So. 2d 1339 (Fla.1978). Thus, a warning of a known danger in a non-defective machine is required in the exercise of reasonable care. LaCoste v. Ford Motor Co., 322 N.W. 2d 898 (Ia.1982). Further, a supplier of a product who knows or has reason to know that the product is likely to be dangerous in normal use has a duty to warn those who may not fully appreciate the possibility of such danger. Restatement (Second) of Torts, Sec tion 388. However, there is no duty to warn of an obvious danger. Here, the danger of manually releasing the emergency brake while the car was running and in gear was obvious — that is, it was obvious that when the brake was released, the car would move in accordance with the gear. Finally, we note that the car owner’s manual contains directions for the proper use and operation of the car which must be distinguished from warnings required in the case of an inherently dangerous product.

For the foregoing reasons we affirm the decision of the trial court.

AFFIRMED.

LETTS, C.J., and DELL, J., concur.


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Citator

Cited By (17 total)

  • Moorman v. Am. Safety Equip., 594 So. 2d 795 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992)
    …nied, 476 So. 2d 676 (Fla.1985), the court [*801] disapproved the notion that our products liability law made strict liability and negligence two separate verbalizations of a single legal concept. Directly on point is Cohen v. General Motors Corp., 427 So. 2d 389 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983), where this court squarely held that: A duty to warn arises where a product is inherently dangerous or has dangerous propensities. Thus, a warning of a known danger in a non-defective machine is required in the exercise of reaso…
  • Maritza Scheman-Gonzalez v. Saber Mfg. Co., 816 So. 2d 1133 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002)
    …is inherently dangerous or has dangerous propensities. Am. Cyanamid Co. v. Roy, 466 So. 2d 1079, 1082 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); Brito v. County of Palm Beach, 753 So. 2d 109, 112 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998); see, e.g., Cohen v. Gen. Motors Corp., Cadillac Div., 427 So. 2d 389, 391 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983); Perez v. Nat’l Presto Indus., Inc., 431 So. 2d 667, 669 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983). This court has recognized that, “[t]o warn adequately, the product label must make apparent the potential- harmful consequences. The warning shoul…
  • Brown v. Glade & Grove Supply, Inc., 647 So. 2d 1033 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)
    …e for his own safety caution commensurate with the potential danger”). Further, the danger of roll-over from non-use of a lock-out pin is not the type of “obvious” danger to which this court referred in Cohen v. General Motors Corp., Cadillac Div., 427 So. 2d 389 (Fla. 4th DCA 1983) so as to lead to the conclusion that no warning was required. Rather, a manufacturer and supplier of a product who knows or has reason to know that the product is likely to be dangerous in normal use has a duty to warn those who…

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