The issue in this motor vehicle-accident case is whether evidence that a seat belt was not used should be admissible to mitigate damages. Aydee Romero's estate sued Nabors and its tanker-transport truck driver for Romero's death and other passengers' injuries resulting from an early morning crash outside Fort Stockton. Romero and the other passengers were thrown from the Chevrolet Suburban as it rolled after hitting the tanker truck when passing. At trial, Nabors offered doctors' testimony that the passengers' injuries indicated they were not wearing seat belts and offered an expert's conclusion that failure to employ the seat belts probably caused the injuries. But the trial court refused to admit the testimony. Jurors found both Nabors and the truck driver negligent and awarded damages. The appeals court affirmed the trial court's decision to exclude the seat-belt evidence. It reasoned that the Legislature's repeal of two statutes barring seat-belt evidence did not overturn Carnation Co. v. Wong, a 1974 decision barring such evidence and predating the statutes. In this appeal Nabors argues (1) that the Legislature's repeal should imply that seat-belt evidence is admissible to mitigate damages and (2) that Carnation should be overturned because it was based on contributory evidence, not the proportionate-responsibility framework Texas follows today.
