legal Issues C5
One night Verne Prior, while driving on U.S. 101 under the influence of alcohol and drugs at speeds of 65 to 85 miles per hour, crashed his automobile into the left rear of a Chevrolet station wagon stopped on the shoulder of the freeway beacause of a flat tire. Christine Smith was sitting in the passenger seat of the parked car when the accident occurred. In the crash, the Chevrolet station wagon was knocked into a gully, where its fuel tank ruptured. The vehicle caught fire and Smith suffered severe brun injuries. The Chevrolet station wagon was manufactured by General Motors Corporation. Evidence showed that the fuel tank was located in a vulnerable position in the back of the station wagon, outside the crossbars of the frame. Evidence further showed that if the fuel tank had been located underneath the body of the station wagon, between the crossbars of the frame, it would have been well protected in the collision. Smith sued General Motors for strict liability. After reading the above-mentioned facts of the Smith case, submit an analytic understanding of the legal rule, and ethical concepts that may collide in response to the issue(s) in question: (a) Is the Chevrolet station wagon a defective product? (b) Was the station wagon unsafe for its intended use? Was the accident foreseeable? (c) How will the court decide? (Justify your arguments and decision after analyzing the situation from multiple ethical perspectives).