What Is Product Liability?
Product liability is the body of law that holds companies responsible when defective or dangerous products cause injuries to consumers.
Manufacturers, distributors, and sellers have a legal duty to ensure that the products they place into the marketplace are reasonably safe when used in a foreseeable way. When a product contains a defect that causes harm, the injured consumer may have the right to pursue a product liability claim.
Product liability cases can involve many types of products, including:
- Motor vehicles and defective auto parts,
- Household appliances that malfunction or catch fire,
- Children’s toys or products that pose choking or safety hazards, and
- Electronic devices with defective batteries or wiring.
If a defect causes an injury, California law may allow injured consumers to seek compensation from the companies responsible for putting the defective product into the stream of commerce.
What Are the Types of Product Liability?
Product liability claims generally fall into three main categories. Understanding the type of defect involved can help determine who may be responsible for the injury.
Manufacturing Defects
A manufacturing defect occurs when a product’s design is safe, but something goes wrong during production. The error may happen during assembly, when installing components, or when the manufacturer used incorrect materials during production.
Examples may include:
- A vehicle airbag that fails because it was improperly assembled,
- A bicycle frame that cracks because of poor welding during manufacturing, and
- A ladder that collapses due to the use of defective materials during production.
Manufacturing defect claims focus on errors that occur during the production process. A Fresno product liability lawyer will investigate the product itself, review production and safety records, and consult with engineers or other specialists to determine whether a manufacturing error caused the failure.
Design Defects
A design defect occurs when the product’s design itself is unsafe. In these cases, the product may have been manufactured exactly as intended, but its design makes it dangerous when used in a reasonably foreseeable manner.
The two alternative tests include:
- Consumer expectation test. A product may be considered defective if it fails to perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would expect when used in a foreseeable manner.
- Risk-benefit test. A product may also be defective if the risks created by its design outweigh its benefits.
Determining whether a design is defective often requires a careful analysis of the product’s structure, engineering choices, and available alternatives.
Failure to Warn
Even when a product functions properly, it can still be dangerous if consumers lack proper warning about known risks.
Manufacturers must provide adequate instructions and warnings about hazards that may not be obvious to the average user.
Examples may include:
- Medications that do not disclose serious side effects,
- Power tools that lack proper safety instructions, and
- Chemical products that fail to warn about toxic exposure risks.
When companies fail to provide clear warnings or instructions, they may be held responsible for injuries caused by the product.
How Do I Prove My California Product Liability Claim?
California product liability claims are often based on strict liability. This means you do not have to prove that the manufacturer acted carelessly. Instead, the focus is on whether the product was defective and whether that defect caused your injuries.
To establish a product liability claim, several elements typically must be shown:
- The product contained a manufacturing defect, design defect, or inadequate warnings when it entered the marketplace;
- You used the product in a normal manner, and it caused injury during its ordinary use.
- The defect caused the harm you suffered.
Product liability cases often require careful review of how the incident occurred and how the product failed. An attorney can analyze the circumstances of the injury and help determine whether the evidence supports a product liability claim under California law.
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