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How to Know if an Injury Occurred Due to Product Defect or User Error

Written by AskTheLawyers.com™

How to Know if an Injury Occurred Due to Product Defect or User Error

Written by AskTheLawyers.com™

AskTheLawyers™

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When you are injured by a product it can be hard to know whether the injury occurred due to user error or a defect in the product. Some products should be reasonably safe for a consumer to use with very little instruction. Other products contain innate hazards and rely at least partially on the competency of the consumer to use that product safely by following the safety instructions and warnings provided.

When an injury occurs while using a product that should not contain any innate hazards, it’s more likely that the injury occurred due to a product defect. However, when an injury occurs while using a product with inherent risks involved, it can be much harder to determine whether a product defect is responsible for the injury, or if user error was primarily at play.

When an inherently dangerous product causes an injury due to improper use or failing to follow safety instructions, this is often user error.

To determine whether user error was primarily at fault for a product injury, it’s important to make sure the product was accompanied by adequate instructions for safe use, as well as any necessary safety warnings. If adequate instructions and warnings were included with the product, and a customer injury occurred due to failing to read or follow these guidelines, it’s safe to assume the injury occurred due to user error.

For example, many kitchen appliances involve heat and/or moving blades. However, most of these products come with detailed instructions and warnings regarding safe use of the product. In this situation, if someone is injured by the product and did not read or follow the safety instructions or warnings that came with it, this could be considered user error and that person might lose their eligibility to seek compensation unless an additional defect was at play.

When an injury occurs due to a lack of reasonable safeguards for an inherently dangerous product, this is considered a product defect case.

If you find yourself injured while using a product that comes with reasonable risk, but did not carry proper safety instructions or warnings, you might be eligible for a product defect case. Common examples of products that present reasonable risk to the users without proper safety instructions include appliances that involve heat, electricity, moving parts, or blades. For example, if that same kitchen appliance from the scenario above were to have been sold without adequate safety instructions and warnings, and a customer was hurt by the product, that greatly increases the eligibility of the injured party to file a product liability claim.

When an injury occurs due to a product that should not present any reasonable dangers to the customer, product defects are often responsible.

Some products should not present any significant danger to the customers who use them. When it is unreasonable for a product to present any danger to consumers, yet it somehow does due to a defect in the product’s manufacturing, design, or marketing, this often results in product liability cases. This could include something as mundane as the strings hanging from a set of interior blinds. If a child or pet is caught and hurt in this string because it was not accompanied by a proper warning or designed in a way to prevent that exact thing from happening, the injured party could very well have a product liability claim against the company.

If you want to learn more about your rights or discuss your eligibility to seek compensation through a product liability claim, seek legal counsel.

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