How Do You Know If a Defective Product Caused Your Injury?

Product liability claims cover virtually anything you might use, whether it’s a defective medical device reconstructing your hip, rechargeable batteries that explode into flames, asbestos insulating steam pipes, a dresser that can easily tip over or a toy so small an infant could put it in his mouth and choke on it.

What’s to blame for your accident?

If you’re harmed by something simple like a hammer whose head flies off while using it, that’s a much easier case. If you’re injured by something much more complicated, such as in a vehicle accident, there may be any number of causes.

• Was a driver (or more than one driver) at fault?
• Was the road negligently maintained or designed?
• Was a vehicle negligently maintained by the owner or an auto service business the owner hired?

If something broke, is it defective?

If the cause of the accident could be narrowed down to a blown tire, the fact it failed doesn’t mean it’s defective under the law. Was the real cause the vehicle owner who was negligent (he or she owed the injured party a duty to act as a reasonable person under the circumstances but failed to do so, causing the injury) because ...

• He failed to keep it properly inflated?
• The tire failed because it was so worn it was unsafe and should’ve been replaced before the accident?
• It failed because the tire over-heated after the driver drove at high speed over a long distance?
• The driver failed to avoid an object in the road that punctured the tire?
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One of the most famous defective product litigation cases involved Firestone tires, which were original equipment for the Ford Bronco in the 1990s. The tires often failed because their treads separated from the tire. If this happened at high speeds, it increased the risk that the Ford Bronco, an SUV with a high center of gravity, could flip over, causing serious injuries and deaths.

How do you find out whether a defective product is to blame?

In order to nail down the cause of an accident it needs to be thoroughly investigated. This may not only take an expert at recreating accidents to determine how one vehicle was struck by another, but if a component of a vehicle triggered the accident, was a defect to blame? That would require another expert to examine the object and review any prior safety problems to form an opinion based on the facts he or she found.

Under the law, a product could be defective and dangerous in multiple ways, possibly at the same time. Product liability law varies from state to state, but they generally boil down to lawsuits based on one of the following:

• Strict liability: A defect made the product inherently dangerous, caused the injury, even though the product was used as intended.
• Negligence: The defendant failed to live up to its legal obligation to produce a reasonably safe product.
• Breach of warranty: The buyer should expect a product that’s safe for advertised purposes and wasn’t warned of known, potential dangers from its use.

No matter which theory is used, a successful lawsuit would need to be based on finding defects in the product at issue.

• The defect occurred due to the design or engineering of the product, during manufacture, during handling or shipment.
• The product could be safe for one purpose, but because it was marketed and used for a different and dangerous purpose, it was defective.
• The lack of accurate or sufficient warnings on possible dangers due to its use made it defective.

Under a strict liability claim, the plaintiff would also need to show:

• The defect caused an injury while the product was being used as it was intended to be used, and
• The product was not substantially changed from how it was originally sold. The change, to be substantial, would affect how it performs.

In such a lawsuit a defendant could claim it’s not liable because the plaintiff knew of the dangerous defect but continued to use the product.

Finding the truth is worth it

There are many reasons to contact an attorney soon after being injured under circumstances where you’re not to blame. If you retain the attorney, an investigation into the accident can be started. What may appear to you to be a simple accident may actually involve a defective, dangerous product that not only harmed you but many others.

A legal action may lead others injured under similar circumstances to file lawsuits as well, potentially resulting in a recall that takes the product off the market and the prevents additional harm to others. Though finding the true cause of an accident can be difficult, getting to the truth is worth the time and effort.