Safety standards and testing should make you feel safe about using the products you buy. Some products do come with a warning about the potential risks, such as the label on a plastic cover that warns of the potential for suffocation. There should never be a risk without a warning or a dangerous flaw in the design or manufacture of the product.
If a product causes you to sustain an injury, Georgia law allows you to hold the responsible parties liable for your damages.
Elements of a claim
FindLaw explains that you have the burden of proof that the defendant manufactured the defective product, it was already defective at the time it left the manufacturer’s control and it was the defect that caused your injury.
Time limits
You must file the claim within Georgia’s statute of limitations for personal injury. This is two years from the time when you discovered your injury and how the product caused it.
For example, you may have purchased a car with a defective airbag, and you are in a crash a few years after you bought the car. You have two years from the time of the crash when you sustained injuries rather than two years from the time you purchased the vehicle.
Comparative negligence
What if you are partially at fault for your injury? This does not mean the manufacturer no longer has to pay for its role in causing your harm. However, it may lessen the award you receive by your percentage of fault.
When many people sustain injuries because of the same defect, the courts may combine the cases and hear them as a class action case.