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''Williamson v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc.'', 562 U.S. 323 (2011), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, in which the Court unanimously held that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208, promulgated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, does not federally preempt state tort lawsuits against auto manufacturers from injuries caused by a defective lack of certain types of seat belts. The case arose when Thanh Williamson died in a 2002 auto accident from seat-belt related injuries. Williamson's family filed suit against Mazda Motor of America in California state court, claiming a defective design leading to a wrongful death. However, the California trial court dismissed the suit on the pleadings, agreeing with Mazda that the action was preempted by federal law, and the California Court of Appeal affirmed the dismissal. The California Supreme Court declined to review the case, but the U.S. Supreme Court accepted the Williamson's petition for certiorari. In a unanimous decision handed down on February 23, 2011, the Court unanimously (8-0, with Justice Elena Kagan not taking part in this case) reversed the California courts and held that federal preemption does not apply. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the decision of the court. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a concurring opinion, and Justice Clarence Thomas wrote an opinion concurring in the judgment. == Background == Dating back as early as 1885, seat belts were first patented by Edward J. Claghorn. In 1955, Ford began offering the lap belt in their automobiles. Saab then began to manufacture their entire range of automobiles with seat belts; most importantly the Saab GT750, launched in 1958. From this model, the practice of seat belt installation then became a competitive advantage to the industry but still did not seem essential to the consumers. Forward, this popular technique became standard in most U.S. automobiles. By 1965, front lap seat belts were produced in several models, by 1968 front shoulder and rear lap belts were introduced, and in 1974 three point front lap belts were adopted in most automobiles. The first United States Federal law pertaining to the use of seat belts became effective January 1, 1968 with the help of the U.S. Department of Transportation which was created two years prior. The law has since been modified but currently requires all vehicles to be produced with three-point seat belts in all seating areas. The use and legality of seat belts varies from state to state, with the first state to pass the law requiring all passengers to wear a seat belt being New York on December 1, 1984. Currently, there are no countries whose automobiles do not offer seat belts and it is a standardized practice world wide.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://stnonline.com/resources/seat-belts/the-history-of-seat-belt-development )〕 During the development of the seat belt, the federal legislation created several agencies responsible for automobile and road safety: The National Traffic Safety Agency, the National Highway Safety Agency, and the National Highway Safety Bureau, which were merged by the 1970 Highway Safety Act into the combined National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The NHTSA was authorized to promulgate regulations - the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) - which provide standards that auto makers must follow in order to allow vehicles to be imported. Of the 68 FMVSS, two standards, 208 and 209, were implemented to standardize lap and shoulder belts in front seating positions as well as lap belts in all other positions in the vehicle.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.nhtsa.gov/About )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Williamson v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc.」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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