Product Liability: Design and Manufacture Defects

If you live in the Melbourne, Florida area and you have been harmed due to a defective product, we would like to talk with you. You may have a cause of action to recover for your injuries, and you may even be able to recover for things such as the wages you lost due to missing work, forfeited promotion and salary increases, and possibly even pain and suffering. First, though, you should understand the theories of product liability under which you can recover.

Defective design product liability issues

Product manufacturers have a duty to design products in such a way as to be as safe as reasonably possible, given the circumstances and products at issue. Of course, some products are inherently dangerous—for example, dynamite is by its very nature dangerous—so this is not to say that manufacturers must only create products that are safe; rather, it is to say that they should create a product that is as safe as possible, taking into consideration the nature of the product.

For example, designing a child’s toy that explodes with enough force to cause injury or death would be an illustration of negligence in the design of that product. Designing dynamite that explodes would only be negligent to the extent that they dynamite is more prone to accidental or uncontrolled explosion than what would normally be the case with the product.

One characteristic of a defective design is that every product manufactured according to that design will be inherently more dangerous than it should be. On the other hand, if only a single unit of the product is unduly dangerous, that could be indicative of a defect in manufacture.

Defective manufacture product liability

Even when a product is designed to operate in a safe manner, a flaw in the manufacturing process can sometimes result in a product that is unduly dangerous. An illustration of this would be a flaw in the welding process when manufacturing bicycles that results in a bicycle being more likely to fall apart than normal.

Sometimes the use of defective materials in the manufacturing process can result in a product being unduly dangerous—even when it would normally be safe if manufactured correctly. For example, using defective hemp to manufacture rope might lead to a rope that is much weaker than it should be, and could expose the manufacturer to liability.

If you have been harmed due to a defective product, we can help. Whether it’s a flaw in the product design or an impropriety in the manufacturing process, you need an experienced attorney to protect your rights. We operate in the Melbourne, Florida area, and we are here to help.