On January 2, 2025, a New Jersey appellate court released a landmark decision in Richard T. Berkoski v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc. holding that an otherwise safe vehicle could not be considered defective merely because it did not have certain driver-assistance technologies.
Plaintiff had appealed the trial court’s earlier summary judgment ruling in favor of Honda, in which the court agreed the manufacturer had no duty to equip a vehicle with every possible technology or to design a vehicle that was accident-proof. The absence of advanced driver assistance technologies simply does not render the vehicle defective because the ordinary consumer is well aware of the need to control her vehicle and of the potentially fatal consequences from not doing so.
In its published opinion, the court held that “the 2016 Honda CR-V was ‘reasonably safe’ as a matter of law.” It explained that “Plaintiff has made no showing that the 2016 Honda CR-V was unsafe because it did not have either or both the LDW and LKA systems. Those systems might have aided [the driver], but they did not replace the obvious expectation among consumers that a 2016 motor vehicle required steering.” Moreover, the court found “merit in a phased-in approach to new technologies and that the approach is consistent with the PL Act.”
“We are pleased with the Court’s decision and hope that it provides guidance to any other court that considers this important issue,” notes Honda’s lead counsel Paul Cereghini, Firm Chair of Bowman and Brooke LLP.
The case arose out of a fatal head-on crash that occurred when a 2016 Honda CR-V EX-L driver drifted into oncoming traffic at 50 mph and collided with a 2011 Ford Escape. The estate of the driver of the Ford Escape sued Honda alleging that the CR-V was defective because it lacked lane departure warning (“LDW”) and lane keeping assist system (“LKAS”) technologies.
The opinion “is an important precedent reaffirming critical product liability principles in the emerging area of ADAS technology litigation,” says Wendy Lumish, Executive Managing Partner, who argued before the appellate division.
Read the full opinion here.
SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY, APPELLATE DIVISION
DOCKET NO. A-2887-22
Richard T. Berkoski, Individually and as Administrator Of The Estate Of Ann L. Ramage, Md, Deceased, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Honda Motor Company, Ltd. And American Honda Motor Company, Inc., Defendants-Respondents, And Honda Of Turnersville, and John MacNamara, Administrator Of The Estate Of Elizabeth MacNamara
On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Camden County, Docket No. L-1463-20.