Albertson v. Volkswagenwerk Aktiengesellschaft

The opinion of the court was delivered by This case was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas and comes to this court by certification from that court under authority of the Uniform Certification of Questions of Law Act. K.S.A. 1980 Supp. 60-3201 et seq. The certifying court shows by its order it has jurisdiction of the parties and the subject matter of this suit and that the law of Kansas controls the substantive legal issues of the case. Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 82 L.Ed. 1188, 58 S.Ct. 817 (1938). We accepted certification. On December 7, 1975, Glynn Albertson, while driving a 1961 Volkswagen van in Wichita, collided with a vehicle owned and driven by Vernon Travis. Albertson sued Travis in the District Court of Sedgwick County. Under a comparative negligence instruction to find 100% of the fault for Albertson's injury, the jury determined his damages to be $275,000, with 40% of the [230 Kan. 369]