Case 3 Recent Accident Eighty Two Year Old Lily Ledbetter Chauffeur Used Drive Automobile Q32479430

Case #3 Before her recent accident, eighty-two-year-old LilyLedbetter was her own chauffeur. She used to drive an automobile tofulfill her once-active senior lifestyle, including outings forbridge tournaments, water aerobics, grocery shopping, bill-paying,and family get-togethers. One day, Lily decided to purchase a newautomobile. Although her fifty-year-old son Ron suggested that heaccompany her to the car dealership, she refused, reminding himthat she was fully capable of taking care of her ownresponsibilities. With the “wind of independence at her back,” Lilyentered the dealership, Bjorn Fjord Motors, alone. Afternegotiating her best deal and signing a contract for the purchaseof a new Fjord Mastodon sedan, Lily drove away in herrapidly-depreciating asset. Five miles down the road, the steeringwheel detached from the steering column (the steering wheelliterally came off in her hands) and Lily crashed into a culvert.She sustained severe personal injuries, including (but not limitedto) a broken left leg, a broken pelvis, a collapsed lung, andnumerous lacerations to her face. Her attending physicians agreethat Lily will never be able to drive an automobile again. Lily hassince sued Fjord Motors, Inc. (the manufacturer of the sedan) andBjorn Fjord Motors, Inc. (the dealership) for personal injury. Bothcompanies have filed answers denying liability on the basis of anexculpatory clause included in Lily’s purchase contract. Theexculpatory clause states that neither Fjord Motor, Inc. nor BjornFjord Motors, Inc. is responsible to a customer or any other thirdparty for a defect in the Fjord Mastodon that results in personalinjury and/or economic harm. Both companies have also filed motionsfor judgment on the pleadings, requesting that the court summarilydismiss both causes of action against Fjord Motors, Inc. and BjornFjord Motors, Inc. on the basis of the contract’s exculpatoryclause.

Should the court grant the defendants’ requests for judgment onthe pleadings? Is the exculpatory clause enforceable against LilyLedbetter?