While many personal injuries are caused by the negligent acts of another person, such as a car accident caused by a drunk driver, there are also physical items that can cause injury as a byproduct of negligent people and companies as well. Defective product liability claims are essentially seeking to prove the negligent and careless acts of a manufacturer for the product they created that led to the eventual injury or wrongful death of the consumer. As with any legal situation, every case is very unique which is why contacting a Santa Rosa personal injury lawyer is so essential. At The Law Offices of Freeman & Freeman, we will sit down with you and discuss the many factors that led up to your wrongful injury and discuss together how we can fight to prove negligence and help you recover the monetary compensation you deserve for your suffering. Defective product liability lawsuits can be generally broken up into three separate categories: the manufacturer defects, defective design of the product, or the company failure to present proper instructions or warnings about the product.

Manufactured Product Defects. When it comes to a faulty product that led to your injury, there is likely chance that it was somehow caused by a manufacturing error. Whether that is a flaw in the creation process, or even a factory malfunction of some sort; you may be able to hold the manufacture accountable for the injuries you have incurred. For example, if you recently bought your young children a new swing set to have in the back yard for the summer and your child been hurt; you may wonder who is to blame. If there was a cracked chain in the swing, that led to your child flying off the swing and cracking their head open; you will most likely be able to claim a product defect. Another example of this would be your new cars brakes don't work and then you are involved in a terrible accident. After the car was thoroughly investigated, they soon discover that there were no brake pads in the vehicle; this too would be considered a defectively manufactured product.

Design Defects. In some cases when a product is created, there can be flaws in the design that lead to the products failure to work properly. In many cases when you are seeking to prove liability for the defective design of a product, you are essentially claiming that the product itself is not safe for use and is a danger to the consumers. For example, in this past year there were a number of vehicles recalled because of unintended acceleration, causing countless accidents because the vehicle would not slow down. Or perhaps the way a car was made led to being overturned when the driver went around corners, this too would be considered a design defect. Another example would be an electric blanket that is used commonly on beds for the winter. If the product would shock or electrocute users when turned on high, this is dangerous and could cause severe injuries and therefore is a design defect.

Warnings and Instructions. Defective products can often cause injuries as a result of being improperly used because the consumer was never notified of how to adequately use the product; or warned of the subsequent dangers if used wrong. In many situations he consumers can receive severe injuries because the manufacture failed to warn about the proper usage of the product. A recent example would be a baby seat that was recalled over this past summer. Because the product failed to warn consumers that it was dangerous to lift the seat with a baby inside, there were dozens of lawsuits for babies that fell out of the chair. These cases involved serious brain injuries among others in very young children; in many cases who were unable to fully carry their own body eight yet. Other examples of these cases would include a medication that fails to warn consumers about the side effects such as extreme drowsiness or more serious permanent illness. If a medication never mentions that may cause drowsiness, and the person gets behind the wheel of a car and crashes; they may be able to hold the manufacture liable for the incident.

As you can see, product defect liability claims can be a complicating process. For this very reason, it is essential that you contact a personal injury attorney in order to help you fight your claim and therefore prove the negligence of those responsible for the injury of you or a loved one. At Freeman & Freeman, we have years of experience helping victims of wrongful injuries, and we want to walk step by step with you during this process.Contact us today!