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Full Opinion
Karen D'AMARIO, individually and on behalf of Clifford Harris, a minor, and Clifford Harris, individually, Petitioners,
v.
FORD MOTOR COMPANY, Respondent,
General Motors Corporation, etc., et al., Petitioners,
v.
Brian Nash, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Maria Nash, Respondent.
Supreme Court of Florida.
*425 Joel D. Eaton of Podhurst, Orseck, Josefsberg, Eaton, Meadow, Olin & Perwin, P.A., Miami, FL; Florin, Roebig & Walker, P.A., Clearwater, FL; and Wagner, Vaughan & McLaughlin, P.A., Tampa, FL, for Karen D'Amario, etc., et al., Petitioners.
Wendy F. Lumish and Jeffrey A. Cohen of Carlton, Fields, Ward, Emmanuel, *426 Smith & Cutler, P.A., Miami, FL; and Ronald E. Cabaniss and Francis M. McDonald of Cabaniss, Conroy & McDonald, P.A., Orlando, FL, for Ford Motor Company, Respondent.
Benjamin H. Hill, III, and Marie A. Borland of Hill, Ward & Henderson, Tampa, FL; William Powers, Jr., and Steven Goode, Austin, Texas; and Hugh F. Young, Jr., Reston, VA, for Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc., Amicus Curiae.
Daniel S. Pearson of Holland & Knight, Miami, FL; and Chilton Davis Varner, Halli D. Cohn, and Michelle Jerusalem Cole of King & Spalding, Atlanta, GA, for General Motors Corporation, etc., et al., Petitioners.
Mark Poses of Poses & Poses, P.A.; and Marc Cooper and Nancy C. Ciampa of Colson, Hicks & Eidson, Miami, FL, for Brian W. Nash, etc., et al., Respondents.
Benjamin H. Hill, III, and Marie A. Borland of Hill, Ward & Henderson, Tampa, FL; William Powers, Jr., and Steven Goode, Austin, Texas; and Hugh F. Young, Jr., Reston, VA, for Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc., Amicus Curiae.
PER CURIAM.
We have for review the decision in Ford Motor Co. v. D'Amario, 732 So.2d 1143 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999), which we have concluded conflicts with the decision in Nash v. General Motors Corp., 734 So.2d 437 (Fla. 3d DCA 1999), on the issue of whether principles of comparative fault apply in a crashworthiness case.[1] We hold that principles of comparative fault concerning apportionment of fault as to the cause of the underlying crash will not ordinarily apply in crashworthiness or enhanced injury cases.[2] Because the manufacturer alleged to be responsible for a defective product that results in a second accident and injury ordinarily may not be held liable for the injuries caused by the initial accident, the fault of the manufacturer may not be compared or apportioned with the fault of the driver of the vehicle who allegedly caused the initial crash.
SECONDARY INJURY CASES
Both cases before us involve lawsuits premised on the crashworthiness doctrine. Such cases, which are also often referred to as "secondary collision" or "enhanced injury" cases, involve both an initial accident and a subsequent or secondary collision caused by an alleged defective condition created by a manufacturer, which is unrelated to the cause of the initial accident but which causes additional and distinct injuries beyond those suffered in the primary collision. One court has explained that the damages sought in such cases "are not for injuries sustained in the original collision but for those sustained in the second impact where some design defect caused an exacerbated injury which would not have otherwise occurred as a result of the original collision." Meekins v. Ford Motor Co., 699 A.2d 339, 341 (Del.Super.Ct.1997).
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals first recognized a cause of action against an automobile manufacturer for enhanced injuries caused by a defective product in Larsen v. General Motors Corp., 391 F.2d *427 495 (8th Cir.1968). The Larsen court reasoned that "[n]o rational basis exists for limiting recovery to situations where the defect in design or manufacture was the causative factor of the accident, as the accident and the resulting injury, usually caused by the so-called `second collision' of the passenger with the interior part of the automobile, all are foreseeable." Id. at 502. While the court acknowledged that an "automobile manufacturer is under no duty to design an accident-proof or foolproof vehicle," it nevertheless concluded the following:
[s]uch manufacturer is under a duty to use reasonable care in the design of its vehicle to avoid subjecting the user to an unreasonable risk of injury in the event of a collision. Collisions with or without fault of the user are clearly foreseeable by the manufacturer and are statistically inevitable.
Id. Accordingly, the court held:
Any design defect not causing the accident would not subject the manufacturer to liability for the entire damage, but the manufacturer should be liable for that portion of the damage or injury caused by the defective design over and above the damage or injury that probably would have occurred as a result of the impact or collision absent the defective design.
Id. at 502-03. The ruling in Larsen recognizing a distinct cause of action against manufacturers for secondary collisions caused by defective products has subsequently received widespread approval throughout the country.
Florida adopted the principle of Larsen in Ford Motor Co. v. Evancho, 327 So.2d 201, 202 (Fla.1976), wherein we declared: "We hold that a manufacturer of automobiles may be held liable under certain conditions for a design or manufacturing defect which causes injury but is not the cause of the primary collision." See also Ford Motor Co. v. Hill, 404 So.2d 1049, 1052 (Fla.1981) (extending crashworthiness doctrine to cases sounding in strict liability as well as negligence). However, while the crashworthiness doctrine is now well established in this state, it is not entirely clear whether or how the principles of comparative fault should apply in such cases.[3] That is the issue presented in the two cases before us today.
D'Amario
In D'Amario, Clifford Harris, a minor, was injured when the car in which he was riding as a passenger collided with a tree and then burst into flames. The car was driven by a friend of Harris who was allegedly intoxicated and speeding at the time of the accident.[4] As described in the opinion below:
*428 A witness to the crash circled the car twice and noticed a fire in the engine area. Some minutes later, the fire spread and an explosion occurred, engulfing the car in flames. Harris was severely injured, losing three limbs and suffering burns to much of his body.
D'Amario, 732 So.2d at 1145. Harris, and his mother, Karen D'Amario, sued Ford alleging that a defective relay switch in the automobile caused Harris's injuries. The plaintiffs did not seek damages against Ford for the injuries to Harris caused by the initial collision with the tree. Rather, they sought damages for the injuries caused by the alleged defective relay switch only. Ford asserted as an affirmative defense that the injuries were proximately caused by the negligence of a third party, although in its answer to the complaint, Ford did not specifically identify the vehicle's driver as a non-party tortfeasor.
At trial, the two sides advanced conflicting theories as to the cause of the fire and Harris's injuries. The plaintiffs' "theory of liability was that a relay switch failed, thus preventing it from disrupting the flow of power to the fuel pump." Id. Plaintiffs' experts "testified that gasoline continued to be pumped after the impact and caused the fire." Id. On the other hand, Ford's "experts countered that the relay switch and fuel pump properly worked and that the original crash caused an oil pan to burst, which resulted in an oil-based fire. [Ford] pointed to the slow spreading nature of the fire in support of its theory." Id. Hence, clear lines and choices for the jury were drawn between the positions of the parties, the plaintiffs asserting the failure of the manufacturer's product, and the manufacturer countering that its products worked properly and no failure occurred.
Prior to jury selection, the plaintiffs moved to exclude evidence about the driver's alcohol consumption on the day of the accident and the trial court ruled that evidence of the driver's alcohol consumption would be excluded.[5] The court reasoned that the acts leading up to the collision were not at issue, rather, the issue as to Ford's liability concerned events occurring after the initial collision with the tree. However, at trial, Ford moved to amend its affirmative defenses to include an allegation that Harris's injuries were caused by the fault of a third party, and proffered evidence of the driver's intoxication and excessive speed. The trial court granted Ford's request and held that an apportionment defense was available and evidence of the driver's actions in causing the initial accident could be admitted in support of such defense. In the face of such ruling, the parties stipulated to the jury that the negligent and excessive speed of the driver caused the initial accident and that at the time the driver had a blood alcohol level of.14 percent.
Following deliberations, the jury returned a verdict for the defense, finding that Ford was not a legal cause of the injuries to Harris. Because the jury found for the defense, it did not reach the question on the interrogatory verdict form as to the driver's comparative negligence. D'Amario subsequently moved for a new trial, alleging that the court erred in permitting evidence of the driver's intoxication to go to the jury. D'Amario also contended that the court erred in permitting *429 Ford to amend its affirmative defense to include the driver as a "Fabre party"[6] and to include him on the jury verdict form, where the defense had failed to comply with the advance pleading requirements of Nash v. Wells Fargo Guard Services, Inc., 678 So.2d 1262 (Fla.1996). In a supplemental memorandum to the court, D'Amario asserted that the driver's conduct was not a legal cause of Harris's injuries, and that the court's ruling during trial further prejudiced the plaintiffs because it came after the jury was selected, hence depriving the plaintiffs of the right to question the venire panel about potential bias towards alcohol consumption and driving while intoxicated.
The trial court granted the plaintiffs' motion for new trial. With regard to the apportionment defense issue, the trial court ruled there was no prejudice in allowing the defense to amend its affirmative defense during trial. However, the court ruled that it had erred in permitting evidence of the driver's alcohol content to go to the jury:
The Court now finds that by permitting the publication of the blood alcohol content to the jury, coupled with the remarks of defense counsel in closing arguments to the effect that the "animal in the car was `alcohol,'" caused undue emphasis to be placed on alcohol as a primary cause of the injury.... The Court found that under the Kidron[7] case that the Defendant was entitled to a jury finding of percentage of fault, if any, on the part of anyone whose negligence was the proximate cause of Plaintiff's damages.... While generally the right to amendment of pleadings declines as trial approaches, the Court here found no real prejudice was present in allowing Defendants to amend their affirmative defenses as was done and especially so since there was no doubt from the pleadings before the amendment as to whom the driver was. Nothing in the evidence offered before or after the amendment changes now the conclusion that under F.S. [§]90.403 the Court should have excluded the remote condition of alcohol from the case.
When Ford appealed, the Second District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that "[o]n the facts in this crash-worthiness case, the appellant [Ford] properly raised an apportionment defense." D'Amario, 732 So.2d at 1145 (citing Kidron, Inc. v. Carmona, 665 So.2d 289 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)).
Nash
While Maria Nash was driving to church with her two children in the back seat of her 1990 Chevrolet Corsica, a car approaching from the opposite direction crossed the center line and crashed into Nash's car. Nash's head struck the metal post that separates the windshield from the driver's door. She later died as a result of her head injuries, although her two children survived. The record reveals that the driver of the other car was intoxicated and had a blood alcohol content of.15 percent. Nash's estate filed suit against General Motors, the manufacturer of the vehicle Nash was driving at the time of the accident, alleging a failure of the vehicle's seatbelt and "that General Motors was strictly liable for a design defect which had been discovered in the seatbelt of the 1990 Chevrolet Corsica." Nash, 734 So.2d at 439. As in D'Amario, the district court's opinion reflects that prior to trial,
the estate asked the trial court to exclude evidence of the other driver's intoxication. *430 The estate argued that such evidence would be too prejudicial in the jury's consideration of comparative fault. In ruling on this matter, the trial court relied on this court's decision in Stellas v. Alamo Rent-A-Car Inc., 673 So.2d 940 (Fla. 3d DCA) (holding that a nonparty intentional tortfeasor should appear on the verdict form so as to permit the jury to apportion fault with the negligent tortfeasor), review granted, 683 So.2d 485 (Fla.1996), and decision quashed by 702 So.2d 232 (Fla.1997). Accordingly, the trial court found that the jury "had a right to know all the facts" concerning someone who appears on the verdict form.
Nash, 734 So.2d at 439. The jury ultimately found no liability on the part of the automobile manufacturer, General Motors, and therefore did not consider the percentage of fault that should be attributed to the drunk driver who caused the accident. The trial court denied the estate's motion for new trial.
On appeal, the estate asserted that the evidence that Charles Chatfield, the other motorist, was intoxicated, was irrelevant and unduly prejudicial to the issue of whether General Motors was negligent in designing a defective seatbelt. The Third District agreed, holding that it was error to permit the jury to apportion fault between an intentional tortfeasor and a negligent tortfeasor. See id. (citing Stellas v. Alamo Rent-A-Car, Inc., 702 So.2d 232 (Fla.1997)).[8] The district court concluded that "it was error for the drunk driver, an intentional tortfeasor, to appear on the same verdict form as General Motors, the negligent tortfeasor in a products liability action." Id. at 441. Accordingly, the district court reversed the trial court's order and remanded the case to the circuit court for a new trial. See id.
ANALYSIS
Comparative Fault In Crashworthiness Cases
As noted above, although we recognized the crashworthiness doctrine in Evancho some time ago, the issue of whether principles of comparative fault apply in enhanced injury cases is one of first impression for this Court. It appears that the first case in Florida to have addressed this issue is Kidron, Inc. v. Carmona, 665 So.2d 289 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995), wherein the Third District held that an automobile manufacturer in a crashworthiness case may apportion fault with the plaintiff based on the plaintiff's contributory negligence in causing the initial impact. There, the plaintiff's husband was killed in an auto accident after his car crashed into the back of a stalled delivery truck manufactured by Kidron. The plaintiff sued Kidron in strict liability alleging that it assembled a truck without a rear underguard, which if installed would have prevented the decedent's car from being forced under the truck's bed during the collision. Kidron asserted a comparative fault defense based on the decedent's alleged negligence in failing to avoid hitting the stalled truck. The trial court refused to allow this defense and the plaintiff prevailed at trial. On appeal, the Third District held that the principles of comparative fault apply in a strict liability suit regardless of whether the injury at issue resulted from the primary or secondary *431 collision. See id. at 292. The court reasoned:
This view is based on the belief ... that fairness and good reason require that the fault of the defendant and of the plaintiff should be compared with each other with respect to all damages and injuries for which the conduct of each party is a cause in fact and a proximate cause.
Id. (citing § 768.81, Fla. Stat. (1993)). In so concluding, the court rejected the argument that a plaintiff's comparative fault should not be considered in the secondary collision context. See id. Without discussion, the court noted that the plaintiffs argument represented a minority view, and the court declined to follow it. See id.
The Majority View
Outside of Florida, courts have wrestled with the comparative fault issue and have adopted conflicting views. Under what has been characterized by Whitehead v. Toyota Motor Corp., 897 S.W.2d 684 (Tenn.1995), as the "majority view," the fault of the plaintiff or a third party in causing the initial accident is recognized as a defense to a crashworthiness case against a product manufacturer. This line of cases reasons that the fault of the person causing the accident that created the circumstances in which the second accident occurred should be compared with the role of the automobile manufacturer's negligence in designing a defective product in assessing total responsibility for the claimant's injuries. See Montag v. Honda Motor Co., 75 F.3d 1414, 1419 (10th Cir.1996) (interpreting Colorado law);[9]Keltner v. Ford Motor Co., 748 F.2d 1265, 1267 (8th Cir.1984) (applying Arkansas law); Hinkamp v. American Motors Corp., 735 F.Supp. 176, 178 (E.D.N.C.1989), aff'd, 900 F.2d 252 (4th Cir.1990); General Motors Corp. v. Farnsworth, 965 P.2d 1209, 1218 (Alaska 1998) (holding it was error not to instruct jury on plaintiff's comparative fault in a strict liability action against manufacturer based on defective seatbelt and not to allocate fault to third person who may have caused the accident); Doupnik v. General Motors Corp., 225 Cal.App.3d 849, 275 Cal.Rptr. 715 (1990) (holding that *432 doctrine of comparative fault is applicable in crashworthiness cases); Meekins v. Ford Motor Co., 699 A.2d 339, 346 (Del.Super.Ct.1997); Day v. General Motors Corp., 345 N.W.2d 349, 351, 357-58 (N.D. 1984) (holding that both plaintiff's accident causing fault and injury enhancing fault should be considered in determining extent of plaintiff's recovery); Whitehead, 897 S.W.2d at 693-94. As the Supreme Court of Tennessee has stated, "The majority view is based on the belief that the fault of the defendant and of the plaintiff should be compared with each other with respect to all the damages and injuries for which the conduct of each party is a cause in fact and a proximate cause." Whitehead, 897 S.W.2d at 693-94.
In Meekins v. Ford Motor Co., a Delaware trial judge set out a comprehensive analysis discussing the arguments on both sides of the issue, before ultimately concluding that principles of comparative fault should apply in enhanced injury cases. First, the court reasoned that while some cases may present a clear factual delineation between primary injuries and secondary injuries, whereby the driver's comparative fault should be excluded from consideration, most cases do not. The court stated that there are usually several acts of negligence involved, all of which may have been a cause of the plaintiffs injuries, and "it would be difficult and confusing to instruct a jury that it should not consider the cause of the collision but only the cause of the enhanced injuries." 699 A.2d at 345. Second, the court was concerned that a rule excluding consideration of the plaintiff driver's fault in causing an accident would logically extend to prevent the plaintiff from suing a negligent third party who caused the accident, and thereby run counter to well-established principles of tort law:
Another logical hurdle inherent in plaintiff's position is this. If a plaintiff negligently crashes his vehicle into a tree and suffers an enhanced injury because of a design defect in his car, plaintiff says that the manufacturer is liable for the enhanced injury regardless of the plaintiff's negligence in causing the collision. But what if a plaintiff collides with another vehicle and the driver of that vehicle is negligent? Assume also that the enhanced injuries caused to the plaintiff by a design defect in his car are clearly identifiable. Under ordinary rules of proximate cause the other driver would have potential liability for all of the plaintiff's injuries, but logically, following the enhanced injury theory of the plaintiff, only the manufacturer should have the liability because the other driver's conduct in causing the initial collision would not have caused the injury absent the design defect. Thus, carrying the theory to its logical conclusion, plaintiff should have no recovery against the other driver for his negligence in causing the collision. This result would run counter to well settled principles of tort law.
Id. Finally, the court noted that the rule concerning proximate causation should be no different in enhanced injury cases than that applied in ordinary negligence cases. It reasoned that "[t]he existence of other proximate causes of an injury does not relieve a plaintiff driver under Delaware's comparative negligence statute from responsibility for his own conduct which proximately caused him injury.... Public policy seeks to deter not only manufacturers from producing a defective product but to encourage those who use the product to do so in a responsible manner." Id. at 345-46. Thus, the court concluded that "[i]t is obvious that the negligence of a plaintiff who causes the initial collision is one of the proximate causes of all of the injuries he sustained, whether limited to *433 those the original collision would have produced or including those enhanced by a defective product in the second collision." Id. at 346.
The Minority View
In contrast to the approach of the "majority" view, the "minority" view, rejecting the application of comparative fault principles, focuses on the underlying rationale for imposing liability against automobile manufacturers for secondary injuries caused by a design defect. The federal district court in Jimenez v. Chrysler Corp., 74 F.Supp.2d 548 (D.S.C.1999), reversed in part and vacated, 269 F.3d 439 (4th Cir. 2001), explained the essential rationale of the minority view:
The crashworthiness doctrine imposes liability on automobile manufacturers for design defects that enhance, rather than cause, injuries. The doctrine applies if a design defect, not causally connected to the collision, results in injuries greater than those that would have resulted were there no design defect. The issue for purposes of a crashworthiness case, therefore, is enhancement of injuries, not the precipitating cause of the collision.
74 F.Supp.2d at 565 (citations omitted). The district court in Jimenez pointed out that the rule of damages in crashworthiness cases also effectively acts to apportion fault and responsibility between the first and second collisions and their respective causes:
First of all, such a rule intrinsically dovetails with the crashworthiness doctrine: Because a collision is presumed, and enhanced injury is foreseeable as a result of the design defect, the triggering factor of the accident is simply irrelevant. Secondly, the concept of "enhanced injury" effectively apportions fault and damages on a comparative basis; defendant is liable only for the increased injury caused by its own conduct, not for the injury resulting from the crash itself. Further, the alleged negligence causing the collision is legally remote from, and thus not the legal cause of, the enhanced injury caused by a defective part that was supposed to be designed to protect in case of a collision.
Id. at 566 (emphasis added). Under this reasoning, concerns about fairness in apportioning responsibility for damages based upon fault in crashworthiness cases are satisfied by the limitation of liability of a manufacturer to only those damages caused by the defective product.
Hence, the primary reason offered by courts excluding evidence of the driver's fault in causing an accident is that the accident-causing fault is not relevant to whether an automobile manufacturer designed a defective product, and, further, that such evidence, if admitted, may be unduly prejudicial to the plaintiff. See Cota v. Harley Davidson, 141 Ariz. 7, 684 P.2d 888, 895-96 (Ct.App.1984) (holding that evidence of the plaintiff's intoxication and conduct in causing the initial accident was not relevant in a crashworthiness case against a motorcycle manufacturer based on a design defect in the motorcycle's gas tank system); Andrews v. Harley Davidson, Inc., 106 Nev. 533, 796 P.2d 1092, 1095 (1990) (holding that evidence of plaintiff's intoxication on night of accident was not relevant to whether motorcycle manufacturer's design defect proximately caused plaintiff's injuries); cf. Green v. General Motors Corp., 310 N.J.Super. 507, 709 A.2d 205, 212-13 (Ct.App.Div.1998) (holding that plaintiff's excessive speed was not relevant to issue of defective design but was relevant to issue of proximate cause of injuries).
Consistent with this approach, the Iowa Supreme Court has held that evidence of *434 the plaintiff's intoxication and excessive speed is not admissible in a crashworthiness case against a vehicle manufacturer. In Reed v. Chrysler Corp., 494 N.W.2d 224 (Iowa 1992), the court explained:
The theory, which presupposes the occurrence of accidents precipitated for myriad reasons, focuses alone on the enhancement of resulting injuries. The rule does not pretend that the design defect had anything to do with causing the accident. It is enough if the design defect increased the damages. So any participation by the plaintiff in bringing the accident about is quite beside the point.
Some commentaries on the crashworthiness doctrine also support the view that the accident-causing fault of the driver should not be compared with the fault of an automobile manufacturer whose product caused an enhanced injury. See, e.g., Robert C. Reichert, Limitations on Manufacturer Liability in Second Collision Actions, 43 Mont. L.Rev. 109, 117-20 (1982). In contrast to the majority view that all possible causes of an injury should be considered, Reichert stresses that accident-causing fault must be distinguished from injury-enhancing fault; otherwise manufacturers of a defective product will be shielded from liability in every second injury case, a result contrary to the holding in Larsen and contrary to the purpose for which the crashworthiness doctrine was first recognized. See id. at 117-18. Reichert asserts that because Larsen established "new precedent by holding that a manufacturer would be liable for enhanced injuries even though the design defect did not cause the first collision[,][i]mplicit in this holding is the rule ... [that] accident-causing fault cannot be compared with injury-enhancing fault." Id. at 118.[10] He explains:
[B]y definition, a manufacturer in a second collision action has zero percent accident-causing fault, so there is always 100 percent accident-causing fault to be considered in mitigation of a manufacturer's injury-enhancing fault. One hundred percent accident-causing fault compared with a manufacturer's injury-enhancing fault will always constitute a superseding cause of enhanced injuries, thereby insulating a manufacturer from liability in every second collision action and contradicting the holding in Larsen and the axiom.
Id. In other words, Reichert contends, to permit a manufacturer to apportion fault with a third party or the plaintiff's conduct in causing the accident, manufacturers would effectively avoid liability for designing and manufacturing a defective product, and would thus countermine the essential purpose for which the crashworthiness doctrine was established.
Florida Law
The automobile manufacturers urge us to adopt the "majority" view and contend that Florida statutory and case law requires juries to apportion fault among all persons who contributed to the resulting injuries and that enhanced-injury cases do not constitute an exception to this well-established rule. They cite section *435 768.81(3), Fla. Stat. (1997), which provides for the entry of "judgment against each party liable on the basis of such party's percentage of fault" and this Court's interpretation of the statute in Fabre v. Marin, 623 So.2d 1182 (Fla.1993).
In Fabre this Court concluded "that section 768.81 was enacted to replace joint and several liability with a system that requires each party to pay for noneconomic damages only in proportion to the percentage of fault by which that defendant contributed to the accident." Id. at 1185. We interpreted the term "party" to include all persons who contributed to the accident "regardless of whether they have been or could have been joined as defendants." Id. However, it is not entirely clear that our holding in Fabre resolves the question presented today since Fabre involved a simple automobile accident involving joint and concurrent tortfeasors, and did not involve successive tortfeasors or enhanced or secondary injuries allegedly stemming from a manufacturing or design defect.
On the other hand, the estate and D'Amario contend that our statutory and case law support the minority view. They rely on Florida case law dealing with successor tortfeasors and analogous circumstances. After considering the majority and minority views discussed above, we conclude that the minority view is more consistent with the principles of tort law and comparative fault as presently developed in Florida.
Medical Malpractice Cases
We have searched for an appropriate analogy to help us resolve the issue. In the context of a medical neglect case, for example, courts in this state have concluded that (1) the cause of an initial injury which may require medical assistance is not ordinarily considered as a legal cause of injuries resulting from the subsequent negligence of the medical-care provider;[11] and (2) an initial wrongdoer who causes an injury is not to be considered a joint tortfeasor[12] with a subsequent medical provider whose negligence enhances or aggravates injuries caused by the initial wrongdoer. In other words, in cases involving medical malpractice, the cause of the underlying condition that brought the patient to the professional, whether a disease or an accident, is not to be compared to the cause of the independent enhanced injury allegedly resulting from medical neglect. See Frank M. Stuart, M.D., P.A. v. Hertz Corp., 351 So.2d 703 (Fla.1977). In Hertz Corp. we held:
Having finally decided the issue in favor of contribution among joint tortfeasors in Lincenberg v. Issen, 318 So.2d 386 (Fla.1975), the Court here finds itself faced with the question of whether to apportion the loss between initial and subsequent rather than joint or concurrent tortfeasors. This cannot be done.
Id. at 706. In Hertz Corp. we held that an initial tortfeasor, upon being sued by the injured party, could not join a medical professional in the same action and seek indemnity for damages caused by medical negligence in the treatment of the injured party.
However, this principle is to be distinguished from the principle that the initial tortfeasor may be held responsible for all subsequent injuries including those caused by medical negligence. See Hertz Corp.; *436 see also Underwriters at Lloyds v. City of Lauderdale Lakes, 382 So.2d 702, 703 (Fla. 1980); Association for Retarded Citizens-Volusia, Inc. v. Fletcher, 741 So.2d 520, 524-25 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999); Dungan v. Ford, 632 So.2d 159, 162 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994); Rucks v. Pushman, 541 So.2d 673, 675 (Fla. 5th DCA 1989). In fact, the rule of complete liability of initial tortfeasors, if interjected into the trial of a claim for medical malpractice or secondary collisions based upon a product defect, would only serve to create additional confusion for a jury charged to resolve the secondary collision claim. See Hertz Corp., 351 So.2d at 706.[13]
The circumstances considered in Whitehead v. Linkous, 404 So.2d 377 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981), further illustrate the medical malpractice analogy. In Whitehead, the plaintiff's decedent was brought to the defendant hospital after he attempted to commit suicide. While under the care of the treating doctor, Whitehead died. An expert testified that the care received by Whitehead deviated from the standard practice in the community and that but for the doctor's negligence, Whitehead would have survived. The jury was instructed that it could consider Whitehead's own conduct as a defense to the medical malpractice claim against the doctor and hospital and the jury returned a verdict for the defense.
On appeal, however, the First District reversed, holding that Whitehead's conduct was too remote and could not be considered the proximate legal cause of his injuries from the alleged professional malpractice. The court reasoned:
A remote condition or conduct which furnishes only the occasion for someone else's supervening negligence is not a proximate cause of the result of the subsequent negligence.... Since Whitehead's death would not have occurred "but for" the negligent acts or omissions of the hospital and the doctor, those acts and omissions must be deemed the cause of the injury. See Fellows v. Citizens Savings & Loan Association of St. Lucie County, 383 So.2d 1140 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980); Bryant v. Jax Liquors, 352 So.2d 542 (Fla. 1st DCA 1977). Stated differently, any conduct on Whitehead's part before he entered the hospital which contributed to his cardiac and pulmonary arrest and subsequent death was not a proximate, legal cause of the damages sought in this case. Accordingly, we find that the trial court erred in submitting the instruction on comparative negligence to the jury over the prior and timely objection of counsel.
Id. at 379 (emphasis added).[14] The reasoning in Whitehead is similar to the rationale upon which the "minority" view of the application of comparative fault principles to the crashworthiness doctrine is based. Both focus on the particular cause "of the damages sought in this case." Id.
As noted above, unlike automobile accidents involving damages solely arising from the collision itself, a defendant's liability in a crashworthiness case is predicated upon the existence of a distinct and *437 second injury caused by a defective product, and assumes the plaintiff to be in the condition to which he is rendered after the first accident. No claim is asserted, however, to hold the defendant liable for that condition. Thus, crashworthiness cases involve separate and distinct injuries-those caused by the initial collision, and those subsequently caused by a second collision arising from a defective product. We agree that when viewed in this light, crashworthiness cases may be analogized to medical malpractice cases involving a successive negligent medical provider who is alleged to have either aggravated an existing injury or caused a separate and additional injury. Thus, just as the injury-causing fault of the patient in Whitehead was held not relevant in assessing the doctor's subsequent and separate negligence, the accident-causing fault of the driver would not be relevant in crashworthiness cases in assessing a manufacturer's neglect in designing an automobile or its parts. The initial accident merely furnished the occasion for the manufacturer's fault to be tested.
Hence, a primary collision, by whatever cause, is presumed to have occurred in crashworthiness cases, and it is further presumed that a manufacturer, like a physician, may not be held responsible for the injuries caused by the primary