Question

A new truck, manufactured by General Motors Corp. (GMC), stalled in rush hour traffic on a busy interstate highway because of a defective alternator, which caused a complete failure of the truck's electrical system. The driver stood nearby and waved traffic around his stalled truck. A panel truck approached the GMC truck, and immediately behind the panel truck, Davis was driving a Volkswagen fastback. Because of the panel truck, Davis was unable to see the stalled GMC truck. The panel truck swerved out of the way of the GMC truck, and Davis drove straight into it. The accident killed him. Davis's widow sued GMC. GMC moved for summary judgment, alleging (1) no duty to Davis, (2) no factual causation, and (3) no foreseeable harm. Comment.

Answer 1

Answer: Summary judgment for GMC denied.

Explanation:

- GMC owes a duty to everyone on the highway since the possibility of an accident is apparent.

- There was factual causation: had it not been for the faulty alternator the truck would never have stalled. - This chain of events is entirely foreseeable. GMC need not foresee precisely what happened; only that something like this could happen.

Answer 2

Answer:

GMC should not be granted a summary judgement because there are several disputes of material facts.

Explanation:

In order for Davis's widow to win the case she must be able to prove that GMC is liable for:

1. Duty of Care: GMC did actually have a duty of care with other drivers because it is foreseeable that their trucks can hurt other people under several circumstances.
2. Factual Cause: the truck's defective alternator was the responsible for Davis's accident, because its failure caused the truck to be stalled in the highway and resulted in Davis hitting it.  
3. Foreseeable harm: it is foreseeable that if a truck breaks down anywhere in a road it can result in severe harm to people.
4. Proximate Cause: the alternator failure was the proximate cause of Davis's death because it is foreseeable that a failure in a large truck can harm someone.

The basic argument relies on the fact that GMC produced the truck, the truck had a manufacturing defect that made t break down in the middle of the highway, and as a result Davis suffered an accident and died.