Klinke v. Mitsubishi Motors Corp.

We granted leave to decide whether the Michigan Vehicle Code’s seat belt statute, which makes evidence of a plaintiff’s failure to use a seat belt admissible and imposes a five-percent cap on reduction in comparative negligence, is applicable in a products liability action against an automobile manufacturer. We conclude that the Michigan Vehicle Code statute, with its five-percent cap on damages reduction, is not applicable in a products liability action and affirm the Court of Appeals.

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On June 25, 1988, plaintiff’s twenty-three-year-old daughter, Kimberly Marie Klinke, was killed in a…