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Product Liability Law Is Based On The Doctrine That Consumers Should Be Protected Against Unsafe Products Essay

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Product liability law is based on the doctrine that consumers should be protected against unsafe products. Manufacturers and those who sell their products are held liable when consumers, users or bystanders receive injuries or property damage due to an unsafe product (Miller, 2014). A consumer can sue if a manufacturer does not exercise due care to make a product safe (Miller, 2014). The duty of care applies to the product being designed to function properly and safely for the user, that the consumer receives warning and safety information on the product, and that the materials used in producing the product are safe for the consumer (Product liability, 2015). Duty of care also applies to product testing and inspection after the product is manufactured (Miller, 2014). Manufacturers and sellers who do not exercise due care can be sued for negligence, even if the person who was injured by the product wasn’t the one who originally purchased it (Miller, 2014). Strict liability is another legal doctrine that can hold a manufacturer liable even if the defective product was not a result of negligence in the manufacturing process (Product liability, 2015). When product liability affects multiple individuals with similar experiences, the lawsuit will often become a class action lawsuit in which multiple people sue as a group (Class action, n.d.). Toyota Motor Corporation was faced with a class action suit and hundreds of lawsuits due to a faulty accelerator pedal and brake problems

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