Understanding How Product Liability Works
Product liability has become a recurring and chronic issue because companies large and small continue to make goods that are not fully tested or determined safe before being sold to consumers. As a result, these untested or partially safe products ultimately end up injuring thousands of folks annually. While some injuries may be temporary, many can be permanent and life-changing.
Product Liability Statistics in the U.S.
Based on the data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, there are annually over 400,000 injuries associated with products sampled from a collective population of 14 million injuries per year in hospitals and clinics nationally. In short, product injuries are not a fluke. They have been around for so long, entire bodies of law and regulatory code have been developed to reduce risks in entire industries.
While there are plenty of rules and laws requiring specific minimum criteria to be met when selling major products to consumers, there are still many other aspects not covered by law that can be just as dangerous. And, it doesn’t mean that companies automatically follow such requirements to the letter. New designs may also create new risks unknown up to that point as well.
The Focus of Legal Liability
Legal representation focuses on what a company knew or should have known when the product was made available to the consumer, and whether the company has a responsibility to protect the consumer from harm. If and when that knowledge and duty fail, and the consumer gets injured, then the company can be held liable for both the recovery of the consumer as well as other damages. The company can even be help liable for punitive damages when the actions or lack of them are so shocking, an average person would have done otherwise in the same situation.
What are Common Types of Product Liability Cases?
Product liability can cover a number of different areas versus just the direct function of the product. They can include the actions and words of the manufacturer, the parts themselves involved, how the part was put together, the actions and marketing of wholesalers and retailers, and anything else those parties provided that a consumer relied on when buying the product.
How Can a Lawyer Help Me in a Product Liability Case?
If you or someone you know has suffered an injury from defective products or a failure to warn of injury risk, obtaining legal help from a North Atlanta injury law PC attorney is a smart step. There are a number of aspects of products liability that the average person might miss or could be glossed over by an insurance company or manufacturer support. And those omissions can be lasting in terms of damage to an injured consumer. Call for help and know for sure what your rights are in a product liability situation. Guessing could be a bad mistake for life. Travis at North Atlanta Injury Law can help; call today to find out more.