Understanding The Various Forms Of Product Liability Claims

If you are injured by a defective product, then you can submit a product liability claim against the party whose negligence lead to the injury. Most people know this. However, do you know that there are various forms product liability claims? Knowing this will help you to identify all the parties liable for your injury, and potentially maximize your claim. Here are the three common forms of product liability claims:

Design Defect

In a design defect, the cause of the injury is directly tied to a design flaw. This means the entire product line that uses the same design blueprints is flawed, even if the manufacturing process was perfect. Such products have the potential to hurt many people, especially if the flaw is not detected as soon as production starts.

Consider a situation in which a motorcycle designer comes up with a plan that includes a weak rear wheel; so weak that it cannot hold an adult person's weight. Also, suppose that a manufacturer uses the design to make a motorcycle exactly as it is designed. If you buy such a motorcycle, and its rear wheel breaks and injures you, then you can file a design defect liability.

Manufacturing Defect

You can claim manufacturing defect liability if your injury can be traced back to how the product was manufactured. The product that caused your injury should be different from other similar products that were properly manufactured. Manufacturing defects may not cause as widespread damages and injuries as design defects because it may only affect a few products.

Consider an example where your motorcycle's rear wheel breaks down while you are riding, and you end up breaking your arm. If the breakage is traced back to a crack on the wheel that originated from the factory, then you can file a manufacturer defect liability against the manufacturer.

Failure to Warn or Instruct

In this case, the product is properly designed and manufactured without any defect. However, it carries an inherent danger that is not obvious to its consumers. Alternatively, it may be that the product is flawlessly designed and manufactured, but there is a way in which it should be used, and using it in any other way exposes consumers to injuries. In this case, you can submit your claim against the distributor, retailer or manufacturer. 

Continuing with the motorcycle example, suppose bike is properly designed and manufactured, but its wheels aren't meant for driving over rough roads, rocks or other obstacles. In this case, your bike should come with warnings and instructions on where to ride the bike, and where you should not ride it. If you don't get such instructions, and you injure yourself after riding and falling over a rocky road, then you can submit a failure to warn product liability. Note that the fact that the motorcycle has a flaw does not mean that you can raise a product liability claim whenever it injures you. For further assistance, contact an attorney, such as one from Herbert Law Firm LLC.