How to Determine Strict Liability in Accidents

Under the law of strict liability accidents, a person can be held liable for any damage caused by their actions or products, regardless of any fault on their part. While the elements of strict liability is somewhat similar to that of negligence where there is also duty, breach, and injury, the complainant does not have to prove the negligence of the defendant in order to receive damages.

Thus, in a strict liability accident, all the complainant needs to do is to establish:

The tort or accident happened
The defendant caused the accident or is responsible for the tort

For example, good faith is immaterial in a strict liability accident. Regardless of a pet owner’s intentions or belief in the good behavior of his pet, he may be held liable for damages inflicted by his pet on another person or property.

Also, the precautions taken by the defendant or the lack of fault or negligence will also not matter when the doctrine of strict liability is applied

Good faith and the lack of fault or negligence are not a defenses in a strict liability accident and will not bar the complainant’s recovery of damages.

The doctrine of strict liability is important in tort law and it is more often used in product liability accidents, dog bite attacks, and in hazardous or inherently dangerous ventures.

In product liability accidents, manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and other entities who make products available to the public are held responsible for the injuries those products cause.

Consumers or parties injured by defective products do not need to prove the negligence of the manufacturer or retailer – they only need to prove that the product was defective.

There are three kinds of defects that a product liability claim may be based on:

Manufacturing defect – It usually involves low-quality materials or poor worksmanship when the product was manufactured. Toys with excessive levels of lead are considered a manufacturing defect.
Design defect – No matter how carefully manufactured a product is, there is a design defect if it is inherently dangerous or useless. Toyota’s recent recall of its cars and trucks involved defective gas pedals which cause unintended acceleration.
Marketing defect or failure to warn - Inherent non-obvious dangers and inadequate warnings and labels which cause injury to the consumer even if the product is well designed and manufactured can give rise to a marketing defect.

Further, in California, strict liability is imposed on dog owners when their pets would bite anyone. So a pet owner, even if the dog is properly restrained or has no previous history of vicious behavior or attacks, may be held liable for damages suffered by any person who is bitten by their dog.

Strict liability is also applied in hazardous or inherently dangerous ventures. In order to learn more about the application of strict liability is accidents, consult an attorney who specializes in torts law.

From the author: Product Liability Clain

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