From the kitchen gadgets you use to the car you drive to work, you rely on commercial products every day to help make your life a little easier. In doing so, you trust that these goods were designed and manufactured correctly, ensuring their efficacy and safety. When producers incorrectly manufacture, ship, or sell their products, consumers can end up hurt.
A personal injury attorney can seek financial remedy for the harm caused by a faulty product under product liability laws. An experienced Allentown defective products lawyer could help you understand how to seek compensation effectively for your losses.
People file many injury and wrongful death lawsuits under the theory of negligence, in which another caused someone harm by failing to meet a required duty of care. Although some defective product injuries can occur because of manufacturer negligence, strict product liability laws may allow an injured consumer to recover monetary damages even when a producer did not breach their duty of care.
Three categories of fault generally apply in detective product laws:
An improperly designed product can lead to consumer injury. In Tincher v. Omega Flex, Inc. (Pa. 2014), the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania case defined two potential standards for identifying defective product design.
The first is a standard for reasonable consumer expectations. This standard considers whether an average, reasonable person would have expected the product to cause the injury it did. Consumers should, for example, expect power tools to carry more risk than a child’s toy. When the child’s toy has sharp, cutting edges, or the power tool’s battery can overheat and combust within minutes of use, these could be unexpected risks.
The second defective design standard is risk versus utility. This standard considers whether the injury risk is greater than the financial or practical burdens of preventing that risk. When a product has a low risk of causing harm and safeguarding against that unlikely harm makes the product too expensive or defeats the purpose of the product, it may not have a defective design.
A manufacturing product defect is a flaw in how the product was made. When the product was designed safely but not created properly, a resulting injury could be grounds for a manufacturing defect claim.
When a product has particular risks, but the suppliers do not warn consumers of them or instruct users on how to avoid them, they could be liable for any injuries caused by the inadequate warnings and instructions.
A knowledgeable defective products attorney could help an injured consumer identify which liability standard applies to their case.
The state follows a rule of comparative negligence, per 42 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes § 7102. When a consumer used a product negligently when they were injured, they could be partially responsible for the harm they suffered. When their negligence is less than the supplier’s strict liability standards, the consumer could still get monetary compensation. However, the court could lessen the amount.
When the consumer’s actions are the majority cause of their harm, the court could block them from recovering any money at all. A defective product lawyer in Allentown could help an injured person prove they are not responsible for their injuries.
Manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers all owe certain compliance and care to their customers. When they fail to meet that duty, their defective products can injure consumers and make them liable for covering the monetary damages associated with those injuries. Talk to an Allentown defective products lawyer to get the financial compensation you deserve for your injuries. Call our firm to discuss your legal options.