Question:
Hilda Forbes was the driver in an accident in which the front end of her car struck another vehicle. The driver's airbag did not deploy, and she sustained serious injuries. She later filed suit against the car's manufacturer because of the failure of the airbag to deploy. The owner's manual for the car-a manual prepared by the manufacturer-contained a statement that if a front-end collision was "hard enough," the air bag would deploy. Although Forbes did not read the manual before buying the car, she told the salesman with whom she negotiated the purchase that a working air bag was important to her. The salesman informed Forbes of the gist of what the owner's manual said about a functioning air bag. In her lawsuit, Forbes presented the testimony of an expert witness who offered the opinion that the collision in which she was involved was severe enough to cause a properly functioning airbag to deploy. Under the circumstances, did the owner's manual's "hard enough" statement constitute an express warranty concerning the airbag. If so why? If not, why not? If the "hard enough" statement constituted an express warranty, was the warranty breached?