Ketchum

Hyundai Motor Company and Hyundai Motor America (hereafter Hyundai or appellant) appeal from a $14 million judgment against them for injuries sustained by nine-year-old Adam Ketchum while a passenger in a Hyundai automobile. Appellant contends the court’s answer to a jury question essentially directed a verdict on the issues of causation and liability; that improper comments by the court clerk and bailiff pressured the jury to reach a decision; that multiple hearsay in the medical records should not have been admitted; that respondents’ theory regarding the two-point seat belt was preempted by the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act; that it was improper to use the consumer expectation test for defect; and that the settlement with another party, Offshore Crane Company, Inc. and its employee (collectively Offshore), should not have been found to be in good faith and that none of it should have been reallocated toward noneconomic damages.

In the published portion of the opinion, we conclude that respondents’ claim based on defective safety restraints is not preempted by the federal safety act. In the unpublished portion of the opinion, we conclude that the trial…