New York Court of Appeals
David A. Bolm v. Triumph Corporation
November 21, 197333 N.Y.2d 151
Summary
The New York Court of Appeals affirmed the Special Term’s grant of summary judgment for the motorcycle manufacturer, holding that a design defect that aggravates injuries—even though it does not cause the initial collision—creates liability under traditional negligence principles, thereby rejecting the ‘second‑collision’ rule articulated in Campo and Edgar. The Court reasoned that manufacturers owe a duty to avoid latent defects that foreseeably increase injury and that the plaintiff’s failure to allege a latent defect is not fatal under CPLR 3026, with the latency issue reserved for the jury. Justice Jones dissented, arguing that the plaintiff would have discovered the dangerous grid and that the claim should be dismissed.