The Freightliner Corporation v. Ben Myrick case in 1994 revolved around a truck accident that resulted in the death of one person and severe injury to another. The victims' families sued Freightliner, alleging that the design of its trucks was defective because it did not include an anti-lock braking system (ABS). However, at the time of manufacture, federal law did not require ABS on trucks. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Freightliner based on preemption doctrine which states that when state laws conflict with federal laws, federal laws take precedence. In this case, since there were no federal regulations requiring ABS at the time of manufacture and sale, state tort claims asserting a design defect due to lack thereof were preempted by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

In the dissenting opinion for Freightliner Corporation, et al. v. Ben Myrick, et ux., Justice Stevens argued that federal law did not preempt state tort claims related to truck safety standards. He contended that Congress had intended to establish minimum safety requirements and did not intend to prevent states from imposing stricter regulations or allowing additional remedies under state law. Furthermore, he noted that there was no evidence of a significant conflict between federal and state laws in this area which would necessitate preemption. The majority's interpretation of the statute as barring such claims, according to him, was overly broad and inconsistent with both congressional intent and previous court rulings on similar issues.