Defective Products Information

A guide for Defective Product Accidents, including explanations of common product liability terms dealing with warranties, negligence, and liability, an overview of determining fault, and the statute of limitations

Understanding Defective Product Accidents · Product Warranties · Product Negligence · Determining Liability · Determining Damages · Common Defenses

Understanding Defective Product Accidents

A defective product accident is when a consumer product causes damage or injury to a person due to a defect in the product; this might be a flaw in the product itself, an error in its labeling, or a problem arising from the way in which the product is used. Defective Product Accidents are an area of Product Liability Law. Fault or Liability for defective product accidents and injuries lies with the manufacturer of the product, but often also extends to any individual or company involved in the chain of commerce, such as the store that sold the product. Any or all of these parties may be legally required to provide compensation for damages resulting from the defective product.

Economic recovery for damages and injuries due to defective products are allowed in all fifty states, though the laws do vary. Because of the range of consumer products which could be defective or dangerous, product liability claims can vary considerably, from obvious cases like lemon laws to more complex cases, including injuries and diseases resulting from tobacco exposure and drugs which are dangerous due to insufficient testing.

Regardless of the state and type of product liability case for a defective product accident, there are three legal theories which form the basis of a successful lawsuit: 1, Manufacturing defects, 2, Design defects, and 3, Failure to warn.

Product Warranties

A warranty, which can be either written or simply oral, is one party's guarantee of the quality and performance of a product being sold. There are three types of warranties that apply to consumer products:

1) Express warranty: An express warranty is when a seller makes an explicit promise or a declaration of fact concerning a product, which may for the basis of a consumer's decision to purchase a product. Express warranties can written, written in an advertisement, or simply oral. Obviously, there is a difference between opinion/sales talk and an express warranty.

2) Implied warranty of merchantability: An implied warranty of merchantability is automatic if the seller of a consumer product is a merchant, such as a car dealer.  An implied warranty of merchantability means that the product will do what it is supposed to do.

3) Implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose: If you inform a merchant that you want a product, such as a motor vehicle, for a specific purpose, and the merchant recommends a specific product, this creates an implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, as you have relied on the seller's judgment in purchasing the product to fulfill the purpose you stated.

A seller may also sell a product "as is," which means that there are no warranties.

Product Negligence

Negligence is defined as the failure to act in a manner expected by the standard Ordinary, Reasonable Person. This definition obviously is open to interpretation, as the term "ordinary, reasonable person" can be defined in differing ways. Consequently, whether a person is acting according to the standard acceptable for an ordinary person, in cases of personal injury and product liability, usually has to be determined by a court, after a trial where all the evidence is presented about the situation.

It should be noted than in most product liability lawsuits and cases of defective product accidents, the manufacturer does not have to be proved negligent for the injured party to collect compensation for damages. The legal doctrine of "strict liability" means that, regardless of the manufacturer's intent or negligence, they can be held liable for damages and injuries resulting from a product that they made which is in some way unsafe.

There is a complication to the claim that another party was negligent and caused an accident. This is when both parties are, to some degree, responsible for an accident, and it is referred to as "Comparative Negligence" or "Contributory Negligence."

"Comparative negligence" is accident law, refers to when both parties involved in an accident have failed to act in a reasonable manner, an consequently both bear some degree of responsibility. In product liability law, this may be the case when a product contains an inadequate warning, but the injury was caused  a use of the product which falls outside of the use expected by an ordinary reasonable person. The manifacturer may be considered 60% liable while the injured party is 40% liable, in this case of comparative negligence.

Determining Liability

Liability in cases of defective product accidents is usually predicted upon one of three types of liability: negligence, strict liability, and breach of warranty. Law vary from state to state, but the general principles remain the same.

Successful lawsuits arising from defective product accidents are usually based on strict liability, rather than on negligence, like other types of personal injury alwsuits. Under the legal doctrine of strict liability, a manufacturer can be liable for injuries or damages resulting from a defective product, regardless of whether it acted negligently. This is to enable the recovery of economic compensation for an injured customer, who may be unable to prove that the manufacturer did or did not do wrong in its design or manufacturing process.

Strict liability, unlike negligence claims, focuses on the product itself. Because strict liability is forces manufacturers to pay for all injuries caused by products, even if they are not at fault, strict liability is applied only to manufacturing defects, rather than to design and warning defects.

Defective Product Accidents which claim that the manufacturer failed to warn are usually considered claims of negligence. A negligence claim, in product liability law, must prove:

If it can be proved that the manufacturer violated the law, then the first two items do not need to be proved. This is termed "negligence per se."

Finally, warranties are declarations, either oral, written, or in the form of an advertisement, by a manufacturer or seller regarding a product during a commercial transaction. Unlike claims of negligence (which focus on the manufacturer's conduct) or strict liability claims (which focus on the product), product liability claims regarding the warranty focus on how these issues relate to a commercial transaction.

Breach of warranty based product liability claims usually focus on one of three types:

Determining Damages

The are several types of damages which may be recoverable, if you are filing a defective product lawsuit. If your case is successful, you are entitled to:

Compensatory damages: These cover medical bills, reimbursement for any time lost from work, and property damaged as a result of the defective product.

Pain and suffering: These go above and beyond the compensatory damages or general damages, and provide compensation for the pain and suffering you experienced as a result of your injury.

Loss of consortium damages: This applies to persons who are married, in the event that the defective product injured or killed a spouse. A spouse may be able to recover these damages, even if he or she was not directly injured by the defective product.

Punitive damages: If the conduct of the defendant was "egregious," that is, particularly terrible, to the extent that the court wishes to "make an example" of them, you may be entitled to punitive damages, which are assessed in order to punish the defendant(s). Punitive damages are not always available. The proof requirements for punitive damages are more strict than the other types of recoverable damage. Many states and jurisdictions limit or restrict the ability to recover punitive damages.

Common Defenses

There are a unmber of defenses that may arise in a product liability lawsuit due to a defective product accident. The underlying theme of the defenses is that the defendant did not cause the accident, the injury was your fault, and that you should not recover for your own negligence.

One of the basic ways in which this is done is by arguing that the injured person was injured because he or she was not using the product in its intended manner. A similar defense is that the manner in which the injured party used the product (which causes the injury, was not foreseeable to the defendant.

Another common defense is that of "comparative negligence," or "comparative fault," which will not eliminate your case, but could reduce damages considerably. "Comparative negligence" means that, while the manufacturer may be responsible for the injury or damages to some extent, your lack of due care was also responsible for the accident. It should be noted that some claims of comparative negligence have nothing to do with the accident, and consequently would not impact the recovery. For exampple, if you got into an accident, while drunk, in a car with faulty brakes, the alcohol may have nothing to do with the accident at all. The faulty brakes may be entirely at fault, and consequently, the manufacturer would be liable.

All content on Accidents.com is for informational purposes only and is NOT intended as legal or medical advice. Please seek advice from a professional on any related topics.

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