Robert A. Turner, Petitioner v. General Motors Corporation, Respondents

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court affirmed the trial court and reversed the Court of Civil Appeals, holding that strict liability applies to crash‑worthiness design defects, that the definition of “unreasonably dangerous” is limited to the ordinary consumer standard and the bifurcated prudent‑manufacturer test is overruled, that no special balancing‑factor instruction is required, that post‑event federal safety standards are inadmissible (though harmlessly excluded), and that a tax‑exemption instruction on damages is improper. Justice Campbell filed a concurring opinion dissenting from parts of the majority’s doctrinal changes.