Hyundai Motor Co. v. Rodriguez Ex Rel. Rodriguez

The sole question here before us is this: when claims for breach of an implied warranty and strict liability are both predicated on the dangerousness of a product’s design, must the trial court ask the jury to make essentially the same factual determination separately for each legal theory? A divided court of appeals answered in the affirmative. 1 We disagree.

I

Rowena Rodriguez, then twenty-seven years old, suffered severe injuries when the 1988 Hyundai Excel-GL in which she was riding went out of control and rolled over. Rodriguez sued the vehicle manufacturers, Hyundai Motor Company and…