Defective Product Lawyer Says: Buyer Be AwareWritten by Anna Henningsgaard
In past, rule of day was “buyer beware”. It was up to consumers to inform and protect themselves from irresponsible companies and dangerous products. Current law, however, is just opposite. Now companies are legally required to provide reasonably safe products. If companies produce dangerous or defective products, consumers can sue them for injuries suffered as a result. Strict product liability makes everyone in production process, from component manufacturers to distributors, responsible for safety of product. This makes safe products a priority for both consumers and producers, which should be ideal situation.However, mere existence of this law has not completely protected consumers from dangerous products. Often companies are not careful and let defective products slip through production line, or they compromise safety of their product to reduce costs. Defective products reach shelves every day, where they can hurt consumers. When these products injure you, it is important to find a lawyer and pursue company, both to claim repayment you deserve and to protect other consumers from defective product. A product does not even have to be defective for its manufacturer to be liable under product liability law. If a product is merely unsafe to consumers, every company affiliated with production, distribution, and retail of that product can be held responsible. There are four different ways to legally establish product liability for defective or dangerous products: negligence, breach of warranty, misrepresentation, and strict liability. A company is considered negligent when it is responsible for providing a standard of safety and does not do so. This includes inaction as well as careless and intentionally dangerous practices. Breach of warranty occurs when a product fails to carry out claims of a seller. Companies are obligated to fulfill any promises made to customers. Misrepresentation refers to expectations consumers hold from a products advertising and promotion. If consumers are lead to believe, through advertising, that a product is safer than it really is, product has been misrepresented. Finally, strict liability assigns responsibility for safety to every step of production and distribution process. If a product is defective and defect injures a consumer, company is strictly liable and responsible for injury regardless of fault or intent.
| | Defective ProductsWritten by Anna Henningsgaard
Have you ever noticed how many warning labels are on things? As a child I always especially noticed tag on hair dryer because it addressed me directly: “Warn children of risk of death by electrocution”. These warning labels are placed on products to protect company from lawsuits from people who injure themselves with products, because label warns consumers about potential risks or dangerous applications of product. Many of labels seem ridiculous with warnings such as “do not ingest” or “do not place near open flame”, but if warnings were missing and you hurt yourself, you could sue company for marketing a defective product!The 1994 Safety Regulations on general product safety apply to both new and second-hand consumer products. Among hundreds of products included are clothing, medicines, agricultural and horticultural products, DIY tools, food and drink, household goods, nursery goods, chemicals and pesticides, and motor vehicles. These rules require all suppliers of these goods to supply products that are safe when used in both normal and unusual-but-predictable applications. Taking into account all circumstances, if a product does not provide a reasonable level of safety it is considered a defective product. A product that merely doesn’t work, but also does not hurt anybody, does not qualify as defective. You can return such a product to manufacturer or pursue action under law of contract, but without being dangerous this broken product does not qualify for a defective product lawsuit. Other circumstances, like warning labels, are also relevant to determining whether a product is defective or not. If there is a label warning you of electrocution, you can reasonably expect to be electrocuted if you misuse product.
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