Defective Products

Image of a Step LatterIf you are injured by a defective product, you may have a viable products liability claim. The three types of defects recognized under Florida law are:

Design Defects – A product is unreasonably dangerous because of its design if the product fails to perform safely when used as intended by an ordinary consumer or in a manner reasonably foreseeable by the manufacturer.

A product may also be defective because of its design if the risk of danger in the design outweighs the benefits.

Manufacturing Defects – A product suffers from a manufacturing defect if it does not conform to the specifications of the manufacturer’s design and that lack of conformity makes it unreasonably dangerous.

Warning Defects – A warning is defective if it does not adequately communicate the risks and dangers associated with a product to consumers. Consumers must be made aware of the risks and informed how to safely use the product.

Products Liability Law – Protecting Consumers from Defective Products

When a consumer is injured by a product they purchase – be it a car, tire, ladder, or even food – the seller may be held liable for damages. Modern products liability law defines the seller as anyone responsible for putting a product into the stream of commerce. Thus, responsibility spans from the retail outlet to the distributors all the way to the manufacturers. But, products liability law has not always been so inclusive.

Before modern products liability law, consumers were responsible for inspecting products prior to making a purchase. Consumers bore all the risk of a defective product in this “buyer beware” era. In those times “buyer beware,” known as the rule of caveat emptor, made sense because consumers could generally determine on their own if a chair from the local carpenter or a horseshoe from the local blacksmith was defective. The scenario changed with the advent of mass production. Most consumers were no longer able to see inherent faults in new and complex products such as cars. Manufacturers had the knowledge and expertise to determine whether their products were safe or defective, forcing consumers to rely on manufacturers to sell safe products.

A major turning point in products liability law occurred in 1911 when Donald MacPherson bought a defective Buick. While Mr. MacPherson was driving his car it suddenly buckled and swerved off the road throwing him from the vehicle and causing him serious injuries. One of the tires was defective and had collapsed during the drive. Mr. MacPherson sued the manufacturer, Buick Motor Company. The jury concluded the car was defective and returned a verdict in his favor. Buick appealed and argued it should not be held responsible for the defective car it produced because Buick did not sell the car to Mr. MacPherson. Justice Cardozo, one of America’s greatest jurists, disagreed. He concluded it was time for manufacturers to be held accountable for the defective products they produced.

Since then, products liability law has continued to grow and further protect consumers from manufacturers who fail to take safety seriously.

Stay Safe!

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, consumer products in the home injure 33.1 million people every year.

It is important to be aware of both old and new products deemed hazardous to your home and your health.  Read More