How does the consumer expectation test apply in motor vehicle accidents?

A prima facie case under the consumer expectation test requires evidence of (1) the plaintiff's use of the product; (2) the circumstances surrounding the injury; and (3) the objective features of the product that are relevant to an evaluation of its safety. (Campbell v. General Motors Corp. (1982) 32 Cal.3d 112, 127.) In Soule, the court reiterated that "the consumer expectations test is appropriate only when the jury, fully apprised of the circumstances of the accident or injury, may conclude that the product's design failed to perform as safely as the product's ordinary consumers would expect." (Soule, supra, 8 Cal.4th at p. 569, fn. 6.) Once the plaintiff has made a prima facie

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showing, the fact finder employs "'"[i]ts own sense of whether the product meets ordinary expectations as to its safety under the circumstances presented by the evidence."'" (Pannu v. Land Rover North America, Inc. (2011) 191 Cal.App.4th 1298, 1310.)