Individuals unfamiliar with the legal system often misunderstand cases involving defective products. People might jump to conclusions and assume a product is defective just because it caused an accident. Or they blame their own clumsiness for an injury caused by equipment that actually is defective.
The fact is that product liability claims can be complicated. For instance, did you know that there are different ways a product could be defective?
Different types of defects
A product can be faulty in a few different ways:
- Design defects are flaws in the way a product is designed to work, like putting a power switch unnecessarily close to a spinning blade.
- Manufacturing defects occur when there are mistakes or faults in the way parties make the product. They might assemble it incorrectly, use the wrong materials or fail to add safety features.
- Marketing defects are failures in the way parties sell or market the product. Examples might include claiming it can do something it cannot or urging consumers to use it in ways it is not intended to be used.
Because there are various ways a product can be defective, it is not always clear for consumers to understand their legal options.
Making a legal claim after an accident
If you suffered an injury when a machine you were using broke or operated in a way it was not supposed to, you might be the victim of a defective product. To get a better idea of whether this could be the case, you should ask yourself the following questions:
- Were you using the product in the way it was intended?
- Did you follow the instructions and warnings (if there were any)?
- Was there a dangerous part that broke while you were using it?
- Is the item on the list of recalled products?
If your answers to these questions lead you to believe something was defective and should not have been available for sale, you may want to seek legal guidance regarding a product liability claim.
