Thousands of consumers are injured every year because of defective products, through no fault of their own. Wrongful deaths, injuries, and property damage from defective and recalled products cost the public more than $500 billion each year, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Liability cases usually involve products such as automobile designs, tires, toys, industrial and farm machinery, medical devices and drugs.
Claims can be brought against manufacturers for design and manufacturing defects, improper safety devices, and false advertising that fail to warn of possible hazards. Your Florida defective products lawyers at John Bales Attorneys have handled cases throughout Florida, including Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, New Port Richey, Lakeland, Plant City, Brandon, Sarasota and wherever you live in the Sunshine State.
Three common types of product defects that may result in a personal injury are:
- Design defects, which occur before the product is created;
- Manufacturing errors, which are flaws resulting from mistakes that took place during the manufacturing process; and
- False advertising, which is a marketing misrepresentation that occurs when sellers do not provide adequate warnings or instructions, or fail to define the risks of using the product.
More than one party may be legally responsible for the damages suffered by a victim from a defective product, including the designer, manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer and advertiser. You need to know how old the product is that caused injury. Florida, as well many other states, has laws limiting how long the manufacturer or seller can be held liable for personal injuries. This is commonly referred to as the "statute of limitations" or "time bar." This is another reason that you should speak to an attorney who practices in Florida about injuries from a defective product as soon as possible.
Tire Safety
Florida law currently permits tire manufacturers to sell tires as, quote, "new" even though they may have been sitting on store shelves for years. Tires that have been on shelves for years may still look new, but they may have been degrading. That is because tires begin to age and weaken from the moment they are made, even without being used. When this happens, tires can blow out or fail.
The United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has provided one estimate that 400 deaths annually are caused by tire failure. Tire and car manufacturers sometimes are hesitant to admit a problem. For example, Firestone recalled six and a half million tires in 2000, only after accident victims uncovered overwhelming evidence of tire failures. That same year, NHTSA said faulty Firestone tires caused 148 deaths. Most people do not know how to tell the age of a tire. There is a code used on many tires, but you may be required to crawl under the car to see it because it is on the inside sidewall of the tire.
If you are buying a new tire, ask the retailer to show you the date it was made. You should consider not buying a tire that is more than three years old.
Consumers who are in an accident due to a defective tire may have a products liability case against the tire manufacturer for the tread separation. Remember, you do have rights. Contact the experienced, professional Florida Defective Products attorneys at John Bales Attorneys.
Car Design-Crashworthiness
"Crashworthiness" refers to a car manufacturer's responsibility to make a vehicle that will provide reasonable protection to the persons in the car at the time of a crash. Not all cars are crashworthy. One well-known example is the Ford Pinto, which was considered not to be "crashworthy" some 30 years ago. The Pinto had such a poorly designed gas tank it could explode in flames if it was rear-ended by another vehicle, even at slow speeds. There was testimony in Pinto cases that the cost to fix this defect was only 11 dollars per car.
Under current Florida law, negligent drivers are held fully responsible for any injuries caused by their reckless behavior. They are just not held unfairly responsible for the injuries caused by the car maker's negligence of building a defective car. In other words, if a poorly designed car caused injury that would not have occurred if the car had been properly designed, then the car manufacture should be responsible for such injuries.
Remember, you have rights. If you were injured because of a car that was not crashworthy, contact the experienced and professional attorneys at John Bales Attorneys, the Tampa and St, Petersburg, Florida attorneys, to represent you in cases involving auto accidents and defective products.
If you have been injured using a defective product, you may be entitled to compensation. Please call the experienced, professional lawyers at John Bales Attorneys…your Tampa, Florida defective product attorneys.
For more information on defective products, go to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission website, http://www.cpsc.gov/
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