Hill v. Kia Motors Am., Inc.

1

AARON HILL and LYNETTA HILL, individually and as next friends and next of kin of John Hill, Deceased, and James Hill, Deceased (20-5690); ROGER DALE PARKS, LEE JUNE CASTOR, NINA JOY RICE, AND JIMMIE RUTH NORTHCUTT (20-5693), Plaintiffs - Appellants, v. KIA MOTORS AMERICA, INC., et al., Defendants - Appellees.

Nos. 20-5690, 20-5693

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

February 24, 2022

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE

Before: CLAY, GIBBONS, and BUSH, Circuit Judges.

OPINION

CLAY Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs Aaron Hill, Lynetta Hill, Roger Dale Parks, Lee June Castor, Nina Joy Rice, and Jimmie Ruth Northcutt appeal from the district court's order granting summary judgment to Defendant Kia Motors America, Inc., et al., and holding as moot the motions to exclude two expert witnesses in this case alleging negligent design and manufacture of the subject 2008 Kia Optima under the Tennessee Products Liability Act ("TPLA"), Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-28-101, et seq. For the reasons set forth below we REVERSE the district court's holding as moot the motions to exclude expert witnesses Kress and Loudon, REVERSE the district court's order granting summary judgment to Defendants, and REMAND the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

A. The December 31, 2015 Accident

This case is about a sudden and unintended vehicular acceleration event on December 31, 2015, that resulted in a triple fatality. Mid-to-late morning that day, eighty-three-year-old Mary Jean Parks was driving her 2008 Kia Optima on Dinah Shore Boulevard in Winchester, Tennessee.^[1] Parks and her seventy-five-year-old sister, Plaintiff Jimmie Northcutt, were en route from an appointment to the local Kroger to purchase milk, a familiar drive just four miles from their shared home. Parks was known to be a careful and cautious driver. The roadway conditions that day were unremarkable, and visibility was unobstructed. The posted speed limit was 30 miles per hour. Upon entering the intersection of Dinah Shore Boulevard and Bypass Road, Parks' vehicle suddenly accelerated to 90 miles per hour with over 4, 000 revolutions per minute ("rpm") for a half-mile.

Eyewitnesses recalled seeing "[Parks' vehicle] flying" and "not slowing down;" the Optima was "going . . . too fast to be able to stop in time with the red light." (Kim Taylor Dep., R. 317-22 at PageID ## 11726, 11727). The car was traveling at such a high rate of speed that "it shook [an eyewitness' car]." (Tommy Philpot Dep., R. 317-21, PageID # 11671). Parks' car "just kept getting faster and faster." (John Dance Dep., R. 317-17, PageID # 11535). Eyewitnesses attested that the Kia was "zigging in and out of these cars," (Kim Philpot Dep., R. 317-20, PageID # 11638), in an apparent effort to "dodg[e]" other vehicles. (Tommy Philpot Dep., R. 317-21, PageID # 11669; see also id. at PageID ## 11675-76 ("She was trying to warn us to get out of the way. She was letting us know something's wrong.")). One eyewitness remembered hearing "the car making . . . [a] weird sound," which sounded like "the engine revving . . . up and then down." (Bobby Metcalf Dep., R. 317-18, PageID ## 11579, 11581). Parks reportedly engaged her hazard lights or flashed her headlights to warn motorists that something was amiss, though not all eyewitnesses reported seeing any lights. A defense expert stated that none of the surveillance camera footage shows that the brake lights were illuminated.

The Kia Optima crashed into a 2003 Ford Windstar. Plaintiffs Aaron Hill and Lynetta Hill and their two seven-year-old sons, John and James, occupied the Windstar and were stopped at a red light. The force of the crash propelled the Ford Windstar into a Ford F-150 pickup truck. At impact, the Kia's vehicle's readings were 4, 300 rpm on the tachometer and 92 miles per hour on the speedometer; the electronic throttle control angle was around 80%.

Eyewitnesses ran to help. These good Samaritans recalled seeing Parks pinned under the dashboard. Parks told eyewitnesses "over and over and over" (Tommy Philpot Dep., R. 317-21, PageID # 11700) that she was sorry and that "she couldn't stop the car . . . [t]he car had a mind of its own." (Kim Philpot Dep., R. 317-20, PageID # 11644). Similarly, Plaintiff Northcutt testified that at some point, either before or right after the accident, Parks told her that "something [was] wrong with this car" and that she was unable to stop accelerating, despite apparently applying the brakes. (Jimmie Northcutt Dep., R. 317-19, PageID ## 11603, 11612). Emergency personnel arrived, and Parks told officers that "something happened to [her] car," and that "[she] could not control it." (Compl., R. 1, PageID # 10).

Parks and the Hill twins suffered fatal injuries. James Hill died on December 31, 2015, at the scene of the accident; Parks died on January 1, 2016; and John Hill died on January 3, 2016. Plaintiffs Aaron and Lynetta Hill and Plaintiff Northcutt all sustained injuries. Plaintiffs, the next-of-kin of Parks and the Hill twins, filed suit, and this appeal followed.

B. Background on Unintended Acceleration Cases

A meaningful portion of automobile products-liability caselaw is devoted to unintended acceleration cases.^[2] Experts theorize variously on the cause of these unintended accelerations. Driver error, via accidental application of the accelerator pedal (also referred to as "pedal misapplication"), or pedal entrapment by a floormat, are recognized causes of unintended acceleration events. On the other hand, a considerable school of thought maintains that unintended acceleration can occur without driver error or pedal entrapment. (See Richard M. Goodman, et al., Toyota Unintended Acceleration, Auto. Design Liability 3 (2016) ("With the advent of electronic ignition systems and cruise control systems in the late 1970[]s and early 1980[]s unintended acceleration complaints without clear mechanical failures began to appear.")). Any number of malfunctions in a vehicle's electronics could cause sudden and unintended acceleration. Throughout this litigation, Plaintiffs have posited many theories about what might have caused the 2015 crash. These theories include: (1) a worn clock spring; (2) a brake-lamp stop switch issue; (3) a voltage drop; (4) malfunctions in the cruise control; (5) brake issues; (6) unforeseen issues with the engine control unit ("ECU"); and (7) electromagnetic interference ("EMI") or cross-talk.

It is first helpful to define some of this vocabulary.

The engine control module ("ECM"), electronic engine controller ("EEC"), electronic control unit ("ECU"), and Powertrain Control Unit ("PCU") are various terms used to refer to the 2008 Kia Optima's central computer. The ECM controls the throttle. Engine power requires air, and the throttle regulates how much air flows to the engine. When a driver presses the accelerator pedal, a wire signals the ECM to open the throttle, and thus, accelerate. If a driver is "flooring it," then the throttle is "wide open." Releasing the accelerator reverses the process; the car slows, and the throttle closes when the vehicle comes to a complete stop. Post-crash vehicle inspections here showed that the throttle plate was in a nearly wide-open orientation, indicating that Parks' car was delivering almost full engine power at the time of the crash.

Some defect experts theorize that electronic throttle control systems can be susceptible to unintended, wide-open throttle acceleration due to electromagnetic interference or EMI.^[3] The malfunction central to the EMI theory is a so-called "cross-talk." A "cross-talk" is a form of EMI where the wires in close proximity "talk" to each other, causing a malfunction. The theory is that EMI can cause the cruise control to send a sustained wide-open command to the electronic throttle control system without driver input.

The cruise control, a system at least conceptually familiar to any driver of a modern automobile, is a sub-component of the electronic throttle control system, or "ETC." In the 2008 Kia Optima, there are four cruise control functions: (1) On/Off; (2) Set/Coast; (3) Cancel; and (4) Resume/Accel. A driver activates any of these functions by pressing the corresponding button on the steering wheel. The buttons on the steering wheel, in turn, are connected to wires in a "clock spring." The clock spring is a circular ribbon cable located inside the steering column, behind the driver's airbag storage module; its function is to provide electrical continuity between the steering wheel and the rest of the car. The clock spring is routed to the control buttons through a multifunction switch. The multi-function switch is connected to the main computer through a single signal wire. The cruise control, via the resume/accel button, is the only feature, other than the accelerator pedal, that directly communicates to open the throttle. The clock spring also incorporates the airbag, steering wheel radio buttons, and horn functions. Each cruise-control function operates in a specified voltage range. The ECU software is designed to turn off the cruise control if the voltage exceeds the specified range.

C. Procedural History

On December 20, 2016, Plaintiffs Aaron Hill and Lynetta Hill the next-of-kin of James and John Hill, and Plaintiffs Roger Dale Parks, Lee June Castor, Nina Joy Rice, and Jimmie Northcutt, the next-of-kin of Mary Parks, sued Defendants Kia Motors America ("KMA"), Kia Motors Corporation ("KMC"), Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group ("Hyundai-Kia"), Hyundai America Technical Center, Inc. ("HATCI"), Hyundai Motor Company ("HMC"), Hyundai Motor Group ("HMG"), and Hyundai Motor America, Inc. ("HMA").^[4...