Culpepper

J.The 19-year-old plaintiff sued the defendant Volkswagen of America, Inc. (VWA), the importer of the Volkswagen, to recover damages for severe personal injuries sustained in a single-car automobile accident which occurred about 10 a.m. on December 19, 1968, on the Riverside Freeway in Orange County when the 1966 Volkswagen she was driving rolled over when she attempted a lane change maneuver. Plaintiff claimed that the car was defectively designed and the case was submitted to the jury on the theory of strict liability in tort. The jury returned a verdict for $75,000 and VWA’s motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and for a new trial were denied.

VWA maintains on appeal that the plaintiff failed to establish that the car was defectively designed or that the alleged defect was the proximate cause of the accident, and that the trial court committed prejudicial error in admitting and rejecting certain expert and demonstrative evidence.

The subject automobile is a 1966 VW Type 1 Bug which was imported to this country from West Germany by the defendant and was sold to Volkswagen Pacific, Inc., the west coast distributor for Volkswagen automobiles. Volkswagen…