For Immediate Release: April 16, 1998

For More Information Contact: TLPJ, 202-797-8600
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TLPJ Challenges Secrecy in Defective Airbag Lawsuit

Seeks Public Access to Info on Nissan Crash Tests

Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ) filed a motion to intervene late yesterday in an Oregon product liability suit, seeking to unseal reports and crash test videos relating to Nissan's testing of airbags in its 1994 and 1995 Altimas. The testing was done by Nissan to comply with US government airbag testing requirements.

"Nissan insists that these cars are safe. If that is the case, then Nissan should have no objections to public disclosure of crash-test videos and materials documenting the performance of its airbags," said TLPJ Foundation President Fred Baron of Baron & Budd in Dallas. "As long as these materials are kept secret, Nissan can continue to downplay the possible dangers of its Altimas."

In Swanson v. Nissan, now pending in Oregon federal court, plaintiff Norma Swanson was riding as a passenger in her 1994 Altima when the driver ran over a curb, causing the passenger-side airbag to deploy. Airbags are supposed to fully deploy before they come into contact with the occupant's face. However, according to Swanson's lawyers, the airbag struck her in the face as it was inflating, resulting in a broken nose and permanent injuries to both eyes. Swanson is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for negligence and product liability. Her suit alleges that Nissan's Altima had a defective airbag system, and that Nissan chose to conceal this defect. Investigation by Swanson's lawyers has revealed 13 other incidents where the airbags on 1994 and 1995 Altimas have deployed in low-speed collisions and caused eye injury to the occupants.

TLPJ filed its motion to intervene on behalf of Parents for Safer Airbags, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting safer airbags through education, legislation, and product liability litigation; and the Oregon Consumer League, a nonprofit consumer advocacy and lobbying group. The motion challenges Nissan's designation of the crash-test videos as confidential pursuant to a stipulated umbrella protective order that prohibits public disclosure of all discovery materials in this case. TLPJ argues that this particular material should be made available to the public, since Nissan has not shown "good cause" for maintaining secrecy, and the public interest favors disclosure.

"The law requires Nissan to prove ‘good cause' for keeping its crash-test videos secret," said TLPJ cooperating counsel Jeffrey Foote of Portland, Oregon. "We do not believe Nissan can meet that burden in this case. If Nissan's airbag system is defective, the public has a right to know about it."

The plaintiff filed a similar motion to unseal today, requesting that the protective order be removed from the crash-test materials and videos. In addition, TLPJ is requesting a hearing on the motion. Federal Magistrate Judge Janice M. Stewart is presiding over the case.

TLPJ's challenge in Swanson is part of Project ACCESS, its nationwide campaign against court secrecy. Through Project ACCESS, TLPJ helps victims oppose unduly restrictive protective orders, intervenes in specific cases to fight for the public's right to know, and educates the courts and the public about the problems posed by litigation in secret. TLPJ's Leslie Brueckner is serving as co-counsel in the case. In TLPJ's first Project ACCESS challenge, it successfully unsealed materials on the dangers of Honda's three-wheel all-terrain vehicles in another Oregon case, Oberg v. Honda Motor Co.