WPI 110.02.04 Crashworthiness / Enhanced Damage and Injury—Manufacturing and/Or Design Defect—V...
6 WAPRAC WPI 110.02.04Washington Practice Series TMWashington Pattern Jury Instructions--Civil
6 Wash. Prac., Wash. Pattern Jury Instr. Civ. WPI 110.02.04 (7th ed.)
Washington Practice Series TM
Washington Pattern Jury Instructions--Civil
April 2022 Update
Part IX. Particularized Standards of Conduct
Chapter 110. Product Liability
WPI 110.02.04 Crashworthiness / Enhanced Damage and Injury—Manufacturing and/Or Design Defect—Verdict Form for Use With WPI 110.30.01, 110.30.02, 110.31.01, and 110.31.02
QUESTION NO. : Did a manufacturing or design defect in the(name of product)[or its component parts] proximately cause the plaintiff to suffer enhanced injuries?
ANSWER: (Write “Yes” or “No”)
(DIRECTION: If you answer “yes” to the preceding question, then answer the next question. If you answer “no” to the preceding question, then do not answer the next question.
QUESTION NO. : What is the amount of money required to reasonably and fairly compensate the plaintiff for any enhanced injuries as you find were proximately caused by the [manufacturing] [design] defect of the(name of product)?
ANSWER: $
NOTE ON USE
Incorporate these interrogatories into the verdict form presented to the jury if the court determines that fault should be separately allocated to the manufacturer of the product for a plaintiff's enhanced injuries. The verdict forms for product liability cases will need to be modified if there is a crashworthiness claim made in conjunction with other product liability claims, negligence claims, and other causes of action that are related to the primary accident. The crashworthiness duty is separate from the standard of care (strict liability or negligence) that is described in the other product liability instructions.
For the crashworthiness claim, the jury will need to have a separate set of forms—for crashworthiness and enhanced injury only—that are consistent with the Tort Reform Act apportionment principles, but are not identical to the forms used in relation to the primary accident. See WPI 110.30.01 (Special Verdict Form—Product Liability—No Affirmative Defenses—No Empty Chairs); WPI 110.30.02 (Special Verdict Form—Product Liability—No Affirmative Defenses—Empty Chairs); WPI 110.31.01 (Special Verdict Form—Product Liability—Assumption of Risk—Contributory Negligence—No Empty Chairs); WPI 110.31.02 (Special Verdict Form—Product Liability—Assumption of Risk—Contributory Negligence—Empty Chairs); see also WPI Chapter 45 (Forms of Verdicts). The jury instructions will often need to precisely explain to the jury the rules for allocating the percentage of fault to those defendants found to be liable, and possibly to those plaintiffs found to be at fault for their own injury. While it may be a challenge to simplify the law in light of RCW 4.22.015, 4.22.070, Tegman v. Accident & Med. Investigations, Inc., 150 Wn.2d 102, 105, 108–20, 75 P.3d 497 (2003), and Rollins v. King County Metro Transit, 148 Wn.App. 370, 376–79, 199 P.3d 499 (2009), product liability cases require tailored jury instructions and verdict forms that bring together instructions from WPI Chapter 110 and other chapters. See generally, Coulter v. Asten Grp., Inc., 135 Wn.App. 613, 617–18, 622–23, 146 P.3d 444 (2006); Lundberg v. All-Pure Chem. Co., 55 Wn.App. 181, 186–87, 777 P.2d 15 (1989).
Use this instruction with WPI 110.02.02 (Crashworthiness/Enhanced Damage and Injury—Manufacturing and/or Design Defect).
Use bracketed material as applicable.
COMMENT
See the Comment to WPI 110.02.02 (Crashworthiness/Enhanced Damage and Injury—Manufacturing and/or Design Defect).
[Current as of December 2020.]
Westlaw. © 2022 Thomson Reuters. No Claim to Orig. U.S. Govt. Works.
| End of Document |