On Jan. 28, 2011, at approximately 11 a.m., plaintiff’s decedent Sudjai Suksamrarn, 61, was driving a Ford Transit Van on Interstate 15 through Rancho Bernardo. Suksamrarn was on his way to pick up an order of 300 pounds of dry ice from Ontario Ice and Cold Storage, whose facility was located in Ontario, Calif. By the time he arrived to pick up the dry ice, the order had increased to 1,300 pounds of dry ice. An employee of Ontario Ice subsequently split the dry ice into 26 individual paper bags of 50 pounds of dry ice each, and then loaded the individual bags into the cargo space of the van. However, when Suksamrarn was 3.5 miles into the return trip to deliver the ice to his employer, he pulled over to the side of the road, slumped over the steering wheel of the van, and was found dead approximately an hour and a half later. A HAZMAT team responded to the scene and took oxygen readings inside of the van. It determined that the oxygen level inside the van was 17 percent, below the normal 21 percent. An oxygen level below 19.5 percent can reportedly cause asphyxiation and death. Thus, the HAZMAT team determined that the dry ice had sublimated into a gaseous state of carbon dioxide, which was colorless, odorless and toxic. It was also noted that Suksamrarn had the driver’s side window down, but not the passenger’s side. As a result, Suksamrarn’s cause of death was reported as being asphyxiation due to carbon dioxide toxicity. The decedent’s wife, Tuenjai Suksamrarn, and the decedent’s son, Scott Suksamrarn, sued Ontario Ice and Cold Storage Inc. The decedent’s family alleged that Ontario Ice negligently trained its employees as to the dangers of dry ice and failed to properly warn the decedent of these dangers. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that Ontario Ice and its employees should have been aware of the dangers of dry ice sublimating and poisoning the decedent. Counsel asserted that the company was a sophisticated seller of dry ice and should have known the dangers of the shipping 1,300 pounds of dry ice in a van behind the driver and refused to place it in the vehicle. Plaintiffs’ counsel noted that the employee who loaded the dry ice into the van admitted to not being trained about the dangers of sublimation and that the president of the company admitted that, had he been present, he would not have allowed the van to leave loaded in the fashion that it was. Plaintiffs’ counsel also contended that the printed warnings on the packaging containing the dry ice were vague, and did not contain any parameters as to when and how suffocation could occur. Counsel further contended that Ontario Ice had a duty as a supplier to refuse to load the vehicle and, instead, deliver it safely. Thus, counsel asserted that had the company printed clearer warnings on the packaging used by the company, it could have prevented the incident from happening. Defense counsel contended that the decedent’s employer regularly picked up dry ice from the facility, and had a bobtail truck and pickup truck that could have, and should have, been used instead of an enclosed van, especially when the decedent learned that the order had been increased to 1,300 pounds. Counsel also contended that the decedent was instructed to roll down all of the windows in the vehicle and to use plenty of ventilation, but that he failed to do so., Sudjai Suksamrarn asphyxiated due to carbon dioxide toxicity from the sublimation of 1,300 pounds of dry ice into a gaseous state. He was subsequently found dead in his van, slumped over the steering wheel on the side of the road an hour and a half after he started his return trip to work. The decedent was 61. He left behind a wife, also 61, and an adult son, who was 33 years old. Thus, the decedent’s wife and son sought recovery of wrongful death damages, as well as damages for their economic losses, which included $46,000 for the past loss of the decedent’s earnings and $100,000 for the future loss of the decedent’s earnings.