The last thing any parent wants to experience is upending their child’s life by gifting them with a faulty object leading to a fatal fate. But even with any parent’s best intentions, the worst can still happen. When it does, they can seek liability against every party in the supply chain who all must keep their consumers from danger.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) instructs manufacturers, distributors, importers and retailers to report any potentially hazardous product carrying substantial injury or death risks within 24 hours of discovering information. Failure to comply with safety standards may lead to criminal and civil penalties.
One of the more prominent products in recent years, hoverboards or self-balancing scooters, gave rise to a host of product liability claims. So much so that CPSC reported 283 hoverboard incidents related to fire explosions or overheating during its peak years.
The trauma can prove too paralyzing to your loved ones, especially to your child’s young mind. But your parental instincts may be enough to drive you to file a product liability claim, as you should.
What to do with your child’s case
If your child suffered from severe injuries, or even death, due to a defective hoverboard, you must seek legal counsel to guide you in the following steps:
- Secure medical attention and preserve proof: After your child receives urgent medical care, you must ensure not to dispose of the hoverboard for the investigation process. You must also collect additional documentation to help build your case.
- Demand strict liability: Whether anyone in the supply chain owed you a duty of care or not, Missouri law deems them strictly liable if they sold the hoverboard to you with unreasonably dangerous conditions. Also, your child must have used it in a reasonably anticipated way.
- Consider the types of defects: Liability rests in any party within the production chain leading to design, manufacturing or marketing defects. Something must have gone wrong somewhere along its initial stages, assembling or labeling warning signs.
On the other hand, manufacturers could argue that you or your child significantly altered the product from the time they sold it to you, which led to its hazardous state. So, it is crucial to gather relevant proof to prove otherwise.
Your child’s future is a gift
Keeping your child safe is worth way more than any material gift. Holding every party responsible for their erroneous actions by establishing a solid claim is possible with a legal team. You may work together to recover monetary compensation for your child’s medical bills, rehabilitative care, pain and suffering, and other financial hardships. Doing so protects both your child’s future and those of other families.