crashworthiness doctrine
crashworthiness doctrine. Products liability. The principle that the manufacturer of a product will be held strictly liable for injuries occurring in a collision, even if the collision results from an independent cause, to the extent that a defect in the product causes injuries above and beyond those that would have occurred in the collision itself. — Also termed second-collision doctrine; second-impact doctrine. [Cases: Products Liability 35.1, 36. C.J.S. Motor Vehicles §§ 409–411, 415–416, 418.]
