Facts

On Feb. 19, 2003, plaintiff Janet Jedlicka was driving her 2002 Hyundai Elantra eastbound on Interstate 90 just outside of Cleveland, Ohio. She was in the left hand lane, when another driver, in an apparent instance of "road rage" swerved into Jedlicka's lane and tapped her brakes, causing Jedlicka to swerve to her left into a snow bank in the median. Jedlicka then overcorrected to the right, went back into the roadway, and was struck broadside on the passenger side by a fully loaded semi tractor-trailer.

Claiming to have sustained profound and permanent brain injury as a result of the non-deployment of the passenger side impact airbag in the Elantra, Jedlicka sued Hyundai Motor Company under a product liability design defect theory.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
The plaintiffs contended that Hyundai had defectively designed the airbag system in the 2002 Elantra by equipping the system with a passenger presence detection system, which operated to suppress deployment of the side airbag on the passenger side when the front passenger seat was unoccupied during a collision that otherwise warranted side airbag deployment.

Relying on a 1999 SAE paper evaluating restraint performance for opposite side occupants during side impacts, the plaintiffs claimed that it was entirely foreseeable that occupants would be allowed significant lateral excursion by a standard, three-point seat belt in a far side impact and that significant side intrusion would also be expected in severe side impacts such as plaintiff's. Consequently, a deployed airbag on the far side, the plaintiffs claimed, would have benefited the plaintiff by attenuating or preventing her injury caused by head contact with the passenger side B-pillar.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Hyundai contended that the Elantra's airbag system, including its passenger presence detection system, was state of the art and employed a deployment strategy identical to many other vehicle manufacturers. Moreover, given the wide variety of side impacts, an airbag system that deployed a passenger side impact airbag when no one was seated in the passenger seat would provide no quantifiable benefit to drivers, pose risks to occupants in certain accidents, and serve only to increase the costs of repair in most side impacts.

Hyundai also contended that even if the passenger side impact airbag in plaintiff's accident had deployed, it would not have deployed with correct timing or location to provide plaintiff with any benefit.

At trial, Hyundai also emphasized the substantial evidence demonstrating that plaintiff had not been wearing her seat belt during the accident, namely, the lack of witness marks on her seat belt, the lack of seat belt marks on her body, and the information stored and retrieved from the vehicle's computerized airbag control module.

Damages

Janet Jedlicka's husband, Dennis Jedlicka claimed loss of consortium. During closing arguments, the plaintiff's counsel asked the jury to award plaintiffs $3.4 million in damages, pointing to plaintiff's continuing cognitive and social deficits as a result of her permanent brain injury. Hyundai argued that plaintiff had not demonstrated a design defect or proximate causation to plaintiff's unfortunate, but not surprising (given the severity of the subject accident) injury.

Injuries

The plaintiff sustained a right clavicle fracture, a closed head injury and a subarachnoid brain hemorrhage.

Result

The jury returned a verdict in favor of Hyundai, finding that the airbag system in the 2002 Elantra had not been defectively designed.

Length

six days