In Illinois and throughout the United States, the vast majority of car accidents are caused by the actions of at least one of the drivers involved. However, there are sometimes other contributing factors. In recent years, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has reported that in approximately 4 percent of accident cases, the critical reason for the crash can be attributed to either the vehicle itself or the surrounding environment. In some of these cases, a defective part or product may be fully or partially responsible for the collision and resulting injuries. If you have been injured in a single-vehicle or multi-vehicle accident, an experienced attorney can help you determine whether you may have a claim for compensation based on product liability.

Defective Car Parts

Cars and other motor vehicles include a number of features to both ensure that they can be safely operated, and to protect drivers who are involved in collisions. If any of these features fails or malfunctions in the time leading up to an accident or after the impact, serious injuries can result. Some examples of defective auto parts that may contribute to accidents include:

• Seat belts - Seat belt restraints are meant to reduce the injuries that a driver or passenger may suffer in a car accident, but a design or manufacturing defect could mean that they are unable to withstand the force of a collision and fulfill their intended purpose.
• Airbags - Like seat belts, airbags play an important role in protecting vehicle occupants in the event of a collision. Defective airbags could fail to deploy upon impact.
• Tires - Defective tires may rupture without warning and cause a driver to lose control, resulting in a single-vehicle or multi-car accident.
• Brakes - Brake failure due to defects can prevent a driver from safely reacting in time to slow and avoid a collision.
• Accelerators - Defective acceleration pedals can sometimes stick, and in some recent cases, vehicles have been known to accelerate against the driver’s intentions.
• Cruise control - Newer vehicles commonly have automated features, like adaptive cruise control and lane maintenance, that help drivers maintain control of their vehicles in traffic. However, if these systems fail, the driver may not have time to react to avoid an accident.

Does Product Liability Apply in My Case?

In Illinois, vehicle designers, manufacturers, and retailers can be liable for injuries caused by defects in their products. Sometimes a defective part may be the primary reason for an accident, in which case one of these parties may be mostly or fully responsible for compensating injury victims. Even in cases involving driver negligence, product manufacturers and designers can be partially liable if the failure of safety features led to more serious injuries than would have otherwise occurred. However, a designer, manufacturer, or retailer may be protected from product liability if the malfunction was due to improper maintenance or unsafe alterations, or if they had issued a recall addressing the failed parts and properly notified the vehicle’s owner.

Most people do not think much about the grey, metallic guardrails lining the roads until they collide with one. Guardrails are a crucial safety component that has lessened the damage caused by countless car crashes. However, when a guardrail or other road barrier is defective in its design or manufacture, the barrier can do more harm than good in an accident. In cases such as these, a product liability claim may be brought against the party responsible for the defective road barrier.

Guardrails That Do Not Work as Intended

The purpose of a guardrail is to reduce the damage caused by an accident. Guardrails are often placed alongside steep slopes or on bridge ends to prevent cars from sliding down the incline. Median barriers are designed to prevent vehicles from crossing into oncoming traffic. A well-designed guardrail also helps absorb the impact of a collision and the end terminals curl inward when struck. However, some guardrails do not function as intended. Instead of reducing the harm caused by the impact, the barriers instead worsen the collision.

Bringing a Product Liability Claim After a Defective Roadside Barrier Crash

Guardrails and other barriers should be designed and manufactured so that they act as intended. However, budget cuts, carelessness, manufacturing mistakes, and other issues can cause defective barriers to be installed on roads and bridges. If a defective roadside barrier worsens a car crash victim’s injuries, the party who manufactured, designed, or installed the barrier may be liable for damages.

Everyone makes decisions that they later regret. For one woman, the choice to substitute Gorilla Glue Spray Adhesive for her usual hairspray is one decision that may stick with her for the rest of her life. In a video originally featured on the popular social media platform TikTok, the woman explained that the glue left her hair tightly affixed to her scalp for over a month. The viral video has created a good deal of controversy across the internet. Some say that the woman has no one to blame but herself for the sticky situation while others point to misleading labels and insufficient product warnings as the cause of the problem. Regardless of fault, the issue brings up important questions about product liability.

Product Manufacturers and Designers Owe a Legal Duty to Consumers

Product liability law deals with the legal obligations that product manufacturers, designers, and retailers have to consumers. Parties must ensure that their products do not contain defects that may put consumers at an unreasonable risk of injury. Product liability claims are typically brought under the legal theories of strict liability, negligence, or breach of warranty. An individual may have a valid product liability claim if a defective product caused him or her injury and the injury led to damages.

Product liability claims may be based on:

For children, little is more exciting than getting a new toy. Unfortunately, children’s toys can lead to serious injuries and even death. The Children’s Safety Network estimates that children suffered over a million toy-related injuries between 2015 and 2018. If your child was injured or killed in an accident involving a defective or dangerous toy, you may be interested in learning about your legal options. In some cases, a product liability claim may hold a negligent toy manufacturer accountable for a child’s injury or death as well as recover financial compensation for damages.

Toy Manufacturers are Held to High Safety Standards

The Consumer Product Safety Act is designed to protect consumers from dangerous or defective products. Product designers, manufacturers, and distributors must ensure that their products do not present an unreasonable risk of injury or death to consumers. When the intended user of a product is a child, the stakes are especially high. Many toys intended for young children must be tested for safety and certified before they reach store shelves. Toys that are most commonly associated with child injuries include:

• Tricycles, scooters, skateboards, and other riding toys
• Balls
• Balloons
• Toy cars
• Building sets
• Stuffed animals
• Action figures

Do I Have a Claim?

Many toy-related injuries are minor and do not require extensive medical treatment. However, toy-related accidents can also lead to severe injuries including burns, broken bones, choking, strangulation, and poisoning. Tragically, some toy accidents are fatal. It can be hard to know for sure when a child’s injury or death is the fault of a toy designer or manufacturer. Product liability claims often involve one of three types of defects:

As a parent, you probably spend a considerable amount of time worrying about your child’s safety. You have probably reminded your child to look both ways before crossing the street, buckle up in the car, or wear his or her bike helmet more times than you can even count. Unfortunately, sometimes, the greatest safety issue in a child’s life is within their own home. Defective toys cause thousands of injuries and deaths each year in the United States. If your child was injured because of a faulty or malfunctioning toy, you may have a valid product liability claim.

Liability for Unsafe Toys

The companies that design and manufacture children’s products are held to high standards when it comes to safety. Nevertheless, U.S. emergency rooms treated approximately 226,1000 toy-related injuries in 2018 alone. Tragically, some of these toy-related injuries were fatal. Some of the most common injuries caused by toys include:

• Airway obstruction
• Suffocation
• Fractures
• Burns
• Puncture wounds
• Contusions and lacerations
• Poisoning
• Drowning
• Battery ingestion
• Electrocution

Nonmotorized scooters, balls, balloons, toy vehicles, toy weapons, building sets, dolls, and many other types of toys have been associated with child injuries.