Every day, New Jersey residents buy thousands of products for themselves and their homes. From the clothing they wear to the sheets they sleep on, practically everything they own comes from the purchase of consumer goods. Most products are safe and effective for their intended uses, and consumers may use them until they need replacement. Others, unfortunately, are dangerous to those who use them and pose risks of injury and death to consumers.
Defining a dangerous product
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regulates unsafe products and requires manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to take action when dangerous products make it into the consumer market. A dangerous product is one that meets one of the following conditions:
- Invites a substantial risk of injury
- Poses an unreasonable risk of death
- Fails to meet a safety rule or regulation
- Involves the death, serious injury, or cessation of breathing for a period of time of a child from choking
When a product falls into one of these categories, it may be deemed unsafe and dangerous.
Defects and their role in unsafe products
There are several ways that products can be unsafe and dangerous to consumers. For example, a product may be designed in such a way that it poses a substantial risk of injury to any consumer who uses it and may therefore need to be redesigned to remove the risk. Similarly, a product may have a safe design but may develop flaws during manufacturing that cause it to become dangerous. Finally, a product that may be a danger to consumers and that fails to contain warnings about its dangers may be considered dangerous if consumers suffer harm.
Consumer injuries happen often, and in some cases dangerous products are to blame. Victims have rights when it comes to seeking the recovery of their losses and can fight for compensation to become whole.
