Re: It takes two to tango

From: Riad S. Wahby (rswat_private)
Date: Wed Jul 31 2002 - 12:19:06 PDT

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    Chris Paget <ivegottaat_private> wrote:
    > Does V still have the right to sue R?
    
    Let's put this a different way:
    
    Ford makes a car that seems to sell pretty well.  Unfortunately, it
    has a fatal design flaw: if the car suffers a rear-end collision while
    it's in third gear during a rainstorm at night while the moon is
    waxing, the car explodes, killing its passengers.  Consumer Reports
    discovers that this is the case and publishes a warning to its readers
    concerning this car.  Ford is unable to reproduce the vulnerable
    configuration and ignores the warning, assuming it's a hoax.
    
    Two weeks later, a story breaks in the national news that a psychopath
    has taken it upon himself to rear-end all Ford cars on rainy moonlit
    nights.  So far, five people have died.
    
    Who is responsible, Ford or Consumer Reports?  Do you think Ford could
    successfully prosecute a lawsuit against Consumer Reports?
    
    Extra credit: if you said "no" to the second question, but think V
    should win a suit against R in Chris's hypothetical situation, please
    explain how the two situations are so substantially different as to
    result in completely opposite conclusions with regard to liability.
    
    -- 
    Riad Wahby
    rswat_private
    MIT VI-2/A 2002
    



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