If you pay attention to the headlines, you’ll notice that product recalls occur on a regular basis for a wide variety of consumer items. This is to protect people in Nashville and everywhere else in the country from being harmed by a dangerous item. However, you might not realize that there are two main types of defective products – design defects and manufacturer defects.
There is a distinct difference between the two, according to the page on product liability by Cornell University Law School’s Legal Information Institute. A design defect pertains to a product whose defect was intended by the manufacturer. For example, you might have bought a stroller for your toddler, only to learn about a product recall stating that the strollers caused severe finger injuries when they were folded up. The designers would not have intended for the strollers to be dangerous, but the design flaw would have been discovered once there were numerous injuries to consumers who owned the same stroller model.
On the other hand, a manufacturing defect involves an unintended flaw in an individual product. This could occur if you bought a flat-screen television that you did not realize had a weak attachment unit when you installed it on your wall. An injury could occur later when the faulty hardware gives way and the television falls.
Regardless of whether a product you owned contained a manufacturer defect or a design defect, the potential for serious injuries would exist. Companies may be held liable for compensation if their products caused harm to consumers.