Product Liability

Product liability involves injuries caused by products that are defectively manufactured, processed, or distributed. The liability attaches to those who make a profit in the distribution chain, from the extractors of raw materials and the makers of component parts to the retailers. Originally a product was a chattel only but the courts have regarded houses, condominiums, rental apartments, and even commercial units as products. A product also includes its container, whether sold with the product or not.

The various statutes that govern product liability, such as the Restatement of Torts and the Consumer Product Safety Act, are based on tort law or contract law. The entire product liability law is complicated by the fact that in most states, a single claim can be brought both on tort theories (negligence or strict liability) and on contract theories (such as breach of warranty, either expressed or implied).

Under negligence theory a manufacturer or seller will be

liable for an injury that was foreseeable at the time and that resulted as a lack of due care. In contrast, a manufacturer/ seller will be liable under breach of warranty if harm occur

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but there was no rail or strap. Hospitalized for 18 days, plaintiff then had medical problems for years afterward. Plaintiff sued General Motors, claiming the bus design was faulty. Plaintiff lost at trial, but the California Supreme Court decided that all plaintiff had to prove was that if there had been a handrail within reach, she probably would not have been seriously hurt. General Motors then had to prove that the design was not at fault. Ford and Goodyear were also charged with faulty product design. Ford's 1976 Mercury Cougar came equipped with a 425horsepower engine and Goodyear radial tires. When plaintiff's son drove his Cougar more than 100 miles per hour a tire exploded, triggering an accident which killed plaintiff's son; a passenger was seriously injured. Plaintiff sued Ford and Goodyear for selling a defective product. Ford and Goodyear proved that the tires had a maximum safe speed of 85 miles per hour and contended that they were not responsible since the car was not used as the manufacturers had intended. The judge ruled that since the Cougar could go as fast as 105 miles per hour, Goodyear and Ford should have expected that some people might drive that fast and should have equipped the Cougar with t
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Approximate Word count = 2186
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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