Filed 11/30/05; pub. order 12/19/05 (see end of opn.)

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

 

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

 

DIVISION ONE

 

 

CHERYL LYNN STEPHEN,   Plaintiff and Appellant,   v.   FORD MOTOR COMPANY et al.,   Defendants and Respondents.

B175408   (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. JCCP4160)

 

 

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Anthony Mohr, Judge. Affirmed.

Mitchell McKay; Peters & Peters and Barbara J. Peters for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Snell & Wilmer, Richard A. Derevan and Michael S. McIntosh for Defendant and Respondent Ford Motor Company.

Iverson, Yoakum, Papiano & Hatch, Arnold D. Larson, John A. Slezak and Mary P. Lightfoot for Defendant and Respondent Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC.

 

_________________________________________

 

 

Cheryl Stephen was injured in a single-vehicle accident when the tread separated from the right rear tire of her Ford Explorer. The Explorer was towed to a scrap yard, where an insurance adjuster took a few snapshots of the vehicle to establish that it was a total loss, and where Stephen's boyfriend took a few Polaroid pictures of the car when he and Stephen went to collect her personal belongings. The Explorer was then sold for scrap and the tire discarded. About a year later, Stephen sued Ford Motor Company and Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC for damages, alleging the tire and the vehicle were defectively designed. At trial, the court excluded the testimony of Stephen's tire expert, substantially limited the testimony of her directional stability expert, then granted Ford's and Firestone's motions for nonsuit. Stephen appeals, challenging the evidentiary rulings and the nonsuits based on those rulings. We hold that expert testimony was necessary to establish Stephen's claims against both Ford and Firestone, that the tire expert's testimony was properly excluded because there was no foundation for his opinions or conclusions, and that the directional stability expert's testimony was properly limited for precisely the same reason. We affirm the judgment.

 

FACTS

A.

In August 1998, Cheryl Stephen's family purchased a used 1996 Ford Explorer. On September 29, 1999, Stephen felt a vibration, then lost control of the Explorer, which crashed into the center divider of the 91 Freeway, then rolled over. A California Highway Patrol officer who arrived shortly after the accident reported that the Explorer's right rear tire was â€