biology

Mcgee v. General Motors Corp.

Mcgee v. General Motors Corp. is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mcgee v. General Motors Corp. rather than just read about it. In short: McGee v. General Motors was a 1998 court case in which the jury awarded plaintiffs Robert and Connie McGee $60 million.

Key takeaways

Mcgee v. General Motors Corp. belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mcgee v. General Motors Corp. to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mcgee v. General Motors Corp. from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

McGee v. General Motors was a 1998 court case in which the jury awarded plaintiffs Robert and Connie McGee $60 million. The trial revealed hidden information about a General Motors fuel tank design. General Motors (GM) was alleged to have sacrificed vehicle safety measures in favor of additional profit. This case was featured on CNN, 60 Minutes, The New York Times, and USA Today.

Background On July 3, 1991, Robert and Connie McGee were traveling with their children Kelly and Shane in their 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser. While stopped at a toll booth, the car was hit by a trailer which had disconnected from a truck several lanes away, driven by Curtis Cayton. The impact caused the trailer tongue-head to pierce the car's gas tank, resulting in a gasoline explosion. After the accident, Shane McGee died as a result of severe burns to 98% of his body. Robert, Connie, and Kelly survived, but needed skin grafts to repair burn damage. Connie had to undergo reconstructive surgery due to extensive burns on her hands and face. The McGees settled with the truck driver out of court, but sued General Motors for intentionally failing to provide adequate safety measures on the car.

Trial and Verdict During the trial, testimony from several former General Motors engineers showed that the design of the fuel tank was too thin and placed too close to the ground. Also, internal documents showed that the placement of a metal shield could protect the most vulnerable parts of the gas tank and greatly improve safety, at a cost of $4.50 per vehicle. The case was tried at the Broward County Circuit Court in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and the plaintiffs were represented by Robert W. Kelley, John J. Uustal and Sheldon Schlesinger. General Motors was represented by James Feeney, Bud Kirk, Daniel Gerber, Terrence Russell and Jay Lefkowitz. On May 18, 1998, the jury returned a verdict of $60 million in compensatory damages, and ruled that both General Motors and Curtis Cayton were at fault.

See also Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Co. World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson General Motors of Canada Ltd v City National Leasing

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mcgee v. General Motors Corp.

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mcgee v. General Motors Corp. claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mcgee v. General Motors Corp. before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mcgee v. General Motors Corp. ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mcgee v. General Motors Corp.

In research: Mcgee v. General Motors Corp. appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mcgee v. General Motors Corp. in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mcgee v. General Motors Corp. is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1998 in Florida, 1998 in United States case law, Automotive safety, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mcgee v. General Motors Corp. outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Mcgee v. General Motors Corp. in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mcgee v. General Motors Corp. means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mcgee v. General Motors Corp. out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mcgee v. General Motors Corp. in simple terms?

McGee v. General Motors was a 1998 court case in which the jury awarded plaintiffs Robert and Connie McGee $60 million.

Why does Mcgee v. General Motors Corp. matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mcgee v. General Motors Corp.?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mcgee v. General Motors Corp..