## Facts

- Ralph and Patricia Giberson alleged they were injured and suffered property damage in a multi-vehicle collision on May 6, 1969, in Springfield, Missouri.
- A City of Springfield police car manufactured and sold by Ford was being driven in traffic near Ralph Giberson.
- The police car’s engine allegedly exploded during normal use, creating a dense cloud of steam, smoke, and gas that severely restricted motorists’ visibility.
- The reduced visibility allegedly caused a multiple-automobile collision involving the Gibersons.
- The Gibersons alleged Ford placed a defective engine into the stream of commerce and that the defect proximately caused their damages.

## Issues

1. Whether Missouri’s § 402A strict products liability in tort is limited to purchasers, users, or consumers, or also applies to injured bystanders.
2. Whether the plaintiffs’ petition, alleging a defective engine that exploded during normal use and caused a collision, stated a claim sufficient to survive a motion to dismiss.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Missouri reversed the trial court’s dismissal for failure to state a cause of action.
- The court held that strict products liability extends to bystanders who are foreseeably endangered by a defective product, even if they did not purchase or use it.
- The case was remanded for further proceedings.

## Legal Principles

- Under Missouri law, strict products liability consistent with Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A is not confined to “users or consumers” and may apply to foreseeable bystanders injured by a defective product.
- The scope of strict products liability turns on the manufacturer’s placement of an unreasonably dangerous defective product into the stream of commerce and the foreseeability of physical harm to persons in the vicinity of its use, not on privity or the claimant’s purchaser/user status.
- A petition states a strict-liability claim when it alleges (1) the defendant manufactured and sold the product, (2) the product was defective and unreasonably dangerous when put to normal use, and (3) the defect proximately caused plaintiffs’ physical harm or property damage.

## Conclusion

Missouri recognized that strict products liability in tort protects not only purchasers and users but also innocent, foreseeable bystanders injured by a product defect, and it ruled that allegations of a defective engine explosion causing a traffic collision were sufficient to proceed past the pleading stage.


Giberson v. Ford Motor Co., 504 S.W.2d 8 (Mo. 1974)