Every year, thousands of injuries in the United States are the result of defective or dangerous products. The number of accidents involving defective products was so large that the U.S. legal system created rules specifically for these incidents. “Product liability” laws are different from standard injury laws and cover who is responsible for defective and dangerous products. Injured consumers can obtain compensation from negligent manufacturers with help from an experienced defective product claim lawyer in San Bernardino like Estey Bomberger, LLP.

How Product Liability Protects Consumers

In a standard personal injury case, the courts require the plaintiff and his or her defective product attorney to prove an injury was the result of another person’s negligence. In contrast, according to product liability laws, a plaintiff doesn’t have to prove that someone was negligent. He or she only has to prove that a defective product caused the injury.

Product liability refers to the courts holding manufacturers, distributers, or retailers liable for allowing defective products to reach the masses. Federal law has strict guidelines for the standards of care a manufacturing company owes its consumers. When someone breaks these standards, courts hold the responsible party liable under theories of negligence, breach of warranty, or strict liability. Speak with a defective product claim lawyer to determine which branch of product liability law your case falls under.

What Are the Different Types of Product Defects?

Product defects can take many shapes and forms, from a medication that poses an unreasonable threat to consumers to an electric child’s toy that catches fire if it overheats. Defective products can be the result of manufacturer negligence, human error, tampering of the original product, or inherent design errors. There are three main types of product defects:

• Manufacturing defects
• Design flaws
• Failure to warn consumers of risks

Manufacturing Defects are issues that occur during a product’s assembly or manufacture, such as human error or defective product parts. Examples of dangerous products with manufacturing defects include cars with defective steering gear, power tools with faulty electrical switches, and a seatbelt that doesn’t latch properly.

Product Design Flaws are errors in a product’s original design that make the product inherently dangerous to use. Examples include a chair that doesn’t support average weight, vehicles that roll over because their center of gravity is off, or modeling clay that suddenly catches fire because of the material used. Design flaws make a product unreasonably dangerous, even if manufacturers don’t make a mistake and the consumer uses it correctly.

Failure to Warn Consumers of Product Risks means a company or manufacturer was aware of the potential hazards of a product but didn’t include a proper warning label before marketing it to consumers. Examples include household products with no warning about health risks if inhaled, a prescription drug that doesn’t list dangerous known side effects, and toys that aren’t intended for small children but don’t have warning labels.

Defective products can cause severe injury and even death. Explosions, car wrecks, amputations, and illnesses have all resulted from product defects. When manufacturers or distributers allow a dangerous product to reach consumers, courts hold them responsible for the victims’ medical bills, pain and suffering, and other damages and frequently lead even lead to a product recall to ensure that that no one else is victim to the same defect.

Submit Your Claim with a Defective Product Attorney in San Bernardino

If you or someone you know sustained an injury while operating a consumer product or good, reach out to a local defective product claim attorney for help. While product liability laws typically take the consumer’s side, these cases are complex and often require expert testimony and legal assistance. Defective products put consumers in frightening and dangerous situations.

Contact Estey & Bomberger, LLP in San Bernardino for a free case evaluation if you believe a defective product caused your injury. Call today! 909-693-3631