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42 J. Air L. & Com. 107 (1976)
Comparative Negligence in Strict Liability Cases

handle is hein.journals/jalc42 and id is 127 raw text is: COMPARATIVE NEGLIGENCE IN STRICT LIABILITY CASES RUDI M. BREWSTER* INTRODUCTION W ITH more. states adopting the doctrine of comparative negligence in place of the traditional common law doc- trine of contributory negligence, the, applicability of comparative negligence to cases grounded on the doctrine of strict liability in tort must be determined. This article will outline the present status of this question among the fifty states, analyze the rationales em- bodied in the question, and conclude with a view of the future. To date, thirty-one states have embraced some form of the doc-. trine of comparative negligence in preference to the all-or-nothing rule of contributory negligence.' Of those states, twenty-eight have accomplished this change by statute,' and three by judicial decision.* * Mr. Brewster is a partner of Cray, Cary, Ames & Frye,, San Diego, Cali- fornia. A.B., Princeton, 1954, J.D., Stanford, 1960. 1 Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia Ha- wail, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Ne- braska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Okla- homa, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. 'ARK. STAT. ANN. §§ 27-1763 to 27-1765 (1955); COLO. REV. STAT. ANN. 13-21-111 (1975); CONN. *GEN. STAT. 5 38-224 (1973); GA. CODE ANN. §5 94-703, 105-603 (_ ); HAWAII REV. STAT. 1968 S 663-31 (_ ); IDAHO CODE ANN. §§ 6-801 to 6-806 (1913); KAN. STAT. ANN. § 60-258a (1974); ME. REV. STAT. ANN. TIT. 14, 5 156 (1965); MASS. GEN. LAWS, Ch. 231, § 85 (1969); MINN. STAT. ANN. 5 604.01 (1969); Miss. CODE ANN., S 11-7-15 (1972); MONT. STAT. § 58-607.1 (1975); NEB. REV. STAT., 5 25-1151 (1943); NEV. LAws § 41.141 (1973); N.H. REV. STAT. ANN., § 507.7a (1969); N.J. STAT. ANN., §§ 2A:15-5.1 to 2A:15-5.3 (1973); N.Y. CPLR, Art. 14-A § 1411 (1975); N.D. CENT. CODE § 9-10-07 (1973); OKLA. STAT. ANN., TIT. 23, 55 11-12 (1973); ORE. REV. STAT. 5 18.470 (1971); R.I. GEN. LAWS ANN. 9-20-4 (1972); S.D. COMP. LAWS, 5 20-9-2 (1967); TEX. REV, CV. STAT. ANN., Art. 2212a, §§ 1, 2 (1973); UTAH CODE ANN., 5§ 78-27-37 to 78-27-43 (1973); VT. STAT. ANN., TIT. 12, § 1036 (1970); WASH. REV. CODE, Ch. 4.22.010 (1974); Wis. STAT. § 895.045 (1931); and Wyo. STAT. ANN. § 1-72 (1973). 'The following states have judicially adopted comparative negligence: Alaska,