As a consumer, buying a product comes with certain expectations: chief among these is that it will be safe to use. If you come to any harm as a result of using a product, then you’re entitled to damage awards.
What is Product Liability?
Encyclopedia defines product liability as a manufacturer’s responsibility to pay damage awards to a consumer to compensate for the injuries resulting from the use the manufacturer’s defective merchandise. In the past, the prevailing mindset was “buyer beware.” Today, industries operate under strict product liability laws. For many manufacturers, these laws have added to the cost of goods, with more taking extra care and thus expending resources to ensure their products are safe from any defects or errors.
Types of Product Liability
There are three existing types of product liability:
- Manufacturing defects. This refers to a flaw or error in the manufacturing process that has resulted in a product that’s unsafe or dangerous to use. It typically involves safety features or elements that fail to work. Such errors can be individual and often appear on a case to case basis.
- Design defects. The flaw is traced back into a lag or error in the engineering or design process, which has, again, resulted in a product that is dangerous to use. Design defects are commonly found in toys, cars and other products as well as in industrial machinery and equipment.
- Warning defects. Whether this involves cable wires and antennas to other products, items and equipment, the lack of a sufficiently obvious warning in a product’s packaging on how dangerous it is to use can be termed a warning defect. Warning signs must be visible and easy to see. If these are easy to miss, a company might have to go back to the drawing table to for new and better packaging.
Legal Help
A product liability attorney, then, is someone who can help you file a claim for compensation. It can be tough to navigate the jargon and legal system. The best chance you have of bringing the people, companies or entities who had allowed the production of a defective product in the market—and thus had a hand in your accident and the injuries that resulted from it—is to hire legal help. By securing the help and support of an experienced product liability lawyer in Cedar Rapids IA, you can look forward to getting the compensation you and your family deserve.
