As a consumer in Montana, it’s understandable to expect that items you spend your hard-earned money on work properly. Unfortunately, as anyone who experiences a faulty product knows that this isn’t always the case. It’s understandable to assume that there’s only one type of faulty product. However, there are several ways to classify the type of product liability you’re dealing with.
Manufacturing flaw
Large companies can manufacture thousands of items per day or even per minute. By mass producing products, it’s sometimes easy for a manufacturing flaw to go unnoticed. If someone gets injured by using a poorly manufactured product, they can make a manufacturing flaw claim.
Defective instructions
If a product works but was unknowingly used in an improper manner, you might have a personal injury claim regarding defective instructions. Imagine you bought a new smartphone and charged it overnight. You wake up to see your smartphone on fire. Because there was no warning about overcharging in your smartphone’s instruction manual, you didn’t know it was a fire hazard.
Design defect
Sometimes, product defects occur long before an item gets manufactured. If this happens, you’re dealing with the fallout from a design defect. A design defect is a flaw in a product’s design rather than a mistake made during the manufacturing process.
Strict liability
There’s also strict liability, which allows someone to sue a business based on this person’s absence of negligence. This type of product liability involves the plaintiff proving a product was defective and caused injuries. A plaintiff must also prove they used the product properly and made no changes to it.