Defense Verdict in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems Case

Huie attorneys Tom Bazemore, Morgan Turner, and Mary Beth Duckett Brown recently secured a defense verdict for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (“FCA”), an automotive manufacturing client, in a product liability trial in Missouri.

The product liability lawsuit arose from a two-vehicle crash, which included a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan that rear-ended another vehicle. Plaintiffs alleged that the Dodge Grand Caravan was defective and unreasonably dangerous for failing to be equipped with Forward Collision Warning (“FCW”) and Automatic Emergency Braking (“AEB”) systems, which Plaintiffs alleged would have prevented the collision. This was the first Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (“ADAS”) case tried by FCA.

Throughout the trial, Huie attorneys proved to the jury that the crash resulted from reckless driving by the operator of the Dodge Grand Caravan. FCW and AEB systems require an alert, attentive, and responsible driver to react, and these technologies are designed to redirect a driver’s attention back to the road ­- they are not designed or capable of eliminating reckless driving. They also proved that the subject 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan was not defective and unreasonably dangerous without FCW and AEB systems. The jury returned a unanimous defense verdict for FCA.

This was one of the first ADAS cases tried by an automotive manufacturer, and it is anticipated that this area of automotive product liability will continue to grow as these emerging technologies develop further.