Each year, defective and hazardous products cause injuries to many people. If you have purchased one of these defective and hazardous products, you need to know what your rights are. You should know about the types of product defect claims you can make and the legal remedies that are available.

The Types Of Product Defect Claims

When it comes to defective and hazardous products, there are three types of defects that you can focus on. The legal remedies that you can use will vary depending on the type of claim you are making. The defects you need to know about are design defects, manufacturing defects, and warning defects.

If there are defects in design, it means that the design of the product causes the defect. An example of this will be a bicycle where the brake cables come apart during normal use. To use this type of claim, you need to prove that the defect is caused by design errors.

Defects in manufacturing will relate to any product that has a defect because of a problem in the manufacturing process. An example of this will be a car accelerator that sticks because of a defect in the manufacturing process. When the product does not act as it should, serious injury can occur.

A defect in the warnings means that the product did not come with sufficient written warnings. This could be related to warnings for how to use the product or how to store it. An example if this will be a space heater that does not have any warnings telling you that it could be a fire hazard if left on for 12 hours.

The Legal Remedies

There are a lot of remedies for the effects of these defective and dangerous products. The one that is used will vary depending on the situation and claim. The two primary legal theories related to remedies that you need to know about are negligence and strict liability.

If you use the negligence theory, you will be able to claim damages from the defendant if you are able to prove they breached the duty they owed to the consumer. You also need to prove that the breach caused an injury and that damages were suffered as a result of this.

If you choose the use the strict liability, you will be looking at the manufacturing process of the product. Manufacturers are strictly liable for defects that occur during the manufacturing process regardless of their level of care. This means that you do not have to prove negligence in these cases as long as the error is a manufacturing one.

There are some other legal avenues that you can try including your warranty rights. The theory of tortuous misrepresentation could also be used, but they are generally harder. Most damage claims will use the primary principles.

If you have been injured by a defective and hazardous product, you need to know what your legal rights are. You will be able to make a claim and there are three types of defects that you need to know about for this. You also need to use the right legal remedy for your case.