Product Liability Through Design Defect

Product liability cases occur for many reasons. One common cause of product liability are design defects. If a defective design causes your accident, you don’t need to suffer. There are laws in place to protect you from the many losses that come with product liability accidents.

Grossman Law Offices have spent years representing those who were victims of product liability through design defect. We want you to know about your rights and how you can get started on the journey to obtain compensation. 

What Are Design Defects?

Design defects are flaws or mistakes in the design of a product that make it dangerous to consumers. However, not all dangerous products have design defects. The danger needs to be unreasonable and unavoidable. For example, a kitchen knife cannot be made to be so blunt that it does not cut food. Because a knife is inherently sharp, there’s no way to keep it from being dangerous.

On the other hand, a knife would be unreasonably dangerous if it didn’t have a safe handle. The poorly designed handle would make the product fall under the design defect category. If you were injured by it, you could file a personal injury claim against the liable party. Usually, the lawsuit is against the manufacturer who designed the product and not a seller. 

Design defects differ from manufacturing defects in that the issue is not with the manufacturing process. When a mistake is made during the manufacturing process, the end-product does not look or work the way it should. On the other hand, a product with a design defect is manufactured in the way it’s intended. 

Other Examples of Design Defects

To better understand design defects, you should consider a few examples. All of the following situations involve product liability through design flaws:

  • A table or chair that intentionally has unequal legs, making it unstable
  • A toy that is intended for a child but is a serious choking hazard
  • A hairdryer that is prone to melting or catching on fire
  • A toy that contains a toxic liquid that is not properly secured
  • A car that is prone to rolling over

There are many other ways in which design defects can occur. If you believe your accident may have been caused by a defect, you should contact a premises liability lawyer in Fresno.

How to Prove a Design Defect

The success of your personal injury claim hinges on you proving that there was, in fact, a design defect. Therefore, you need proof that the manufacturer should have known the product would be a risk to consumers. If the manufacturer had no way of knowing the product would be hazardous, they did not act in negligence and you have no personal injury claim. 

There’s more to your claim than showing the manufacturer was aware of the hazardous design. Depending on the jurisdiction of the incident, you may need to show that there was a better way to design the product. The other method must not be cost-prohibitive or affect the function of the product. Typically, you need to work with an expert witness to demonstrate this alternative design.

If you used the product in a way that was not intended to be used, then you have no grounds for a personal injury claim. For that reason, your claim hinges on your ability to show that you used the product in the intended way. While this isn’t difficult to prove, it’s crucial that you’re aware of this before you go through the trouble of filing a personal injury claim. 

The Importance of Working with an Experienced Product Liability Lawyer

In 2018, Community Regional Medical Center had 114,025 emergency room visitors. Some of those visitors were there due to preventable accidents, such as design defect incidents. In addition to bearing the financial burden of their medical expenses, accident victims were left to cope with the physical and emotional pain of their injuries.

If you were involved in a design defect accident, you may never fully recover. Your injuries could keep you from living your life to the fullest. Because of that, you deserve compensation and justice.

Grossman Law Offices is well-aware of the many challenges that come with design defect cases. We’re prepared to take on your case and work towards the outcome you want. If you’re ready to get started, give us a call today.