Insured by a Defective Product? What Pursuing a Personal Injury Claim Can Protect Your Interests – and Society at Large

From baby strollers to lawn mowers, defective products can have devastating consequences. A single defect could turn an otherwise useful product into a deadly hazard, and if not addressed those defects could put millions of consumers at risk.

While the risks of defective products are undeniable, there are other hazards that one may encounter in their daily lives. For instance, car accidents, which are sadly common, can result in severe injuries such as broken bones. The aftermath of such incidents can be overwhelming, especially when you consider the long claim time for brain injuries. In the state of Nevada alone, the statistics surrounding traumatic brain injuries are alarming. Awareness and legal guidance in these areas can be instrumental in safeguarding victims’ rights.

When you are injured by a defective product, it is important to know your rights and pursue a course of action, not only for yourself but for all those other consumers as well. You may think that filing a personal injury lawsuit is all about you and your injuries, but taking prompt legal action could actually protect many others as well. Here are some of the reasons filing a personal injury lawsuit is so important when you or a loved one has suffered injury due to a defective product.

Recall Notifications Are an Imperfect Form of Consumer Protection

The government is supposed to keep careful track of defective products, discerning patterns and uncovering injuries that would otherwise go unnoticed. When the government detects a pattern of defects, they are required to research the situation and order a recall if deemed necessary.

Unfortunately, the procedures for finding defective products and issuing product recalls is far from perfect, and those gaps could put millions of consumers at risk. Even if a recall has been issued, you may never find out about it, at least until it is too late.

Consumers who pay cash may never be notified that the products they purchased are defective and potentially dangerous, especially if they failed to register their purchases. Even paying with a credit or debit card is no guarantee of notification, and many owners of defective products are never notified of these defects, or the dangers they may present.

Filing a personal injury lawsuit in the wake of a defective product is one way to encourage further action by the government and manufacturers. By increasing the cost of keeping defective products on the market, these legal actions can protect future consumers from harm.

Enforcing Product Liability Improves Quality for Everyone

The quality of products varies widely, from stellar and exceptional to merely acceptable to downright dangerous. When consumers purchase a product, they are right to expect good value for their hard-earned money, but the reality can be far different.

In some cases, poor quality results in nothing more than a waste of money, but for other products the consequences could be far more severe. If the drink holder in your car is of poor quality, you might spill your soda. But if the tires on your car are not manufactured properly, you could suffer a blowout on the highway – and possibly even lose your life.

Holding manufacturers to account for shortcomings in quality is yet another reason to file a personal injury lawsuit. Even if you are not concerned about your own injuries or worried about your own medical bills, millions of other consumers may not be so lucky. By pursuing your rights through a personal injury lawsuit, you can put those shoddy manufacturers on notice, and that could enhance consumer safety for everyone.

Instead of cutting corners and hoping for the best, those manufacturers will be financially forced to improve their quality. And while making better products is always the right thing to do, a little outside influence can sometimes provide the necessary incentive.

Putting Manufacturers on Notice

The best manufacturers work very hard to make every product they make as good as it can be. They go above and beyond what is required and enforce the highest possible standards of quality.

For other manufacturers, the goal is not top quality but enhanced profitability, and that slavish devotion to the bottom line can have devastating consequences.

If you have suffered a product related injury through no fault of your own, you owe it to yourself, and to other consumers, to find the root of the problem. In many cases, the root cause of the defective product is exactly that kind of corner cutting, and filing a lawsuit will put those manufacturers on notice.

Holding manufacturers to account is an underappreciated but very importunate part of the personal injury process. Once those irresponsible businesses have been inundated with personal injury actions, they may be less likely to cut corners or take shortcuts in the future, and that can help protect other consumers down the line. By removing the financial incentive for poor quality control, product liability lawsuits help keep all manufacturers honest, and that is good news for public safety.

It is easy to see a personal injury lawsuit as a self serving, but putting manufacturers on notice is actually a selfless thing to do. Instead of writing off your injury as no big deal, think about the potential consequences of allowing those manufacturers to continue with their substandard manufacturing processes.

Why Choosing the Right Personal Injury Law Firm is So Critical

As you can see, filing a personal injury lawsuit is about much more than your own compensation. While recovering for your medical bills, time lost from work and pain and suffering are the most important parts of the process, there are many other benefits.

From holding manufacturers to account and helping them improve their quality control procedures to improving the process used to issue recalls, filing a personal injury lawsuit can be good for you and the rest of the world. But before you file that lawsuit, you need to have the right personal injury representative in your corner.

Not every personal injury law firm is the same, and it is important to find a representative that specializes in defective products and the harm they cause. As a consumer, you have the right to purchase products that do what they promise, and you have every right to seek compensation when a defect causes injuries to yourself or someone you love.

If you or someone you care about has been injured by a defective product, start by finding a firm with real courtroom experience, not just expertise in mediation. In some cases, settlement will be your best option, but it is always good to know that the firm you hire will have your back if the case ultimately reaches the courtroom.