Babcock v. General Motors Corporation
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
299 F.3d 60 (2002)

- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Paul Babcock was driving a car manufactured by General Motors Corporation (GM) (defendant) when the car hit a tree. Paul later died from complications from injuries sustained in the crash. The executrix of his estate, Frances Babcock (plaintiff) sued GM for negligence. The lawsuit claimed that Paul was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the accident. Paul was not wearing his seatbelt when he was found after the accident. The lawsuit claimed that the impact from the crash unlatched the seatbelt. To prove this, Frances sought to introduce evidence that Paul’s habit was to always wear a seatbelt when driving or riding in a vehicle. To that end, three witnesses testified that they had ridden in a car with Paul a total of at least 30 times and that each time he had worn his seatbelt. The trial court permitted this testimony over GM’s objection. The jury returned a verdict in Frances’s favor. GM appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Bownes, J.)
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