People are injured or killed in accidents every day. While a great many accidents occur without the negligence or fault of another, others are caused by defective products or the negligence of individuals or entities. When accident injuries or deaths are due to negligence or defective products, victims and their families may be entitled to compensation through legal action.
If you have been injured or a family member has been killed as a result of an accident and you suspect that your injuries or loved one’s death were caused by someone’s negligence or a defective product, you may be entitled to compensation through the institution of a product liability, negligence, or wrongful death action. The Killino Firm’s Miami, Florida, accident attorneys have considerable expertise and experience with all types of accident cases, including those arising out of injuries and deaths caused by negligence or defective products. Call The Killino Firm at 305-559-6340 for a cost-free assessment of your case and more information about your legal options.
Legal Liability for Accident Injuries or Deaths
Accident injuries and deaths may be caused by a victim’s exposure to or use of a defective product, someone’s negligence, or both. When negligence and a product defect combine to cause a victim’s injury or death, the negligent individuals or entities as well as those responsible for the production and release to the public of the defective product may be held legally responsible for the victim’s injury or death.
Liability for Negligently Caused Accident Injuries or Deaths
Accident injuries or deaths are often caused by the negligence of individuals or entities, such as companies or persons who own premises or buildings in which a person is injured or killed. The liability of an owner of property on which a person is injured or killed may depend on the characterization of the victim as a business invitee, licensee, or trespasser at the time the accident leading to the victim’s injury or death occurred.
Under premises liability law, property owners may owe duties of varying levels of care toward persons who enter their property. Business invitees, who are people who are invited into someone’s home or onto their land to do plumbing or electrical work, roof repair, or landscaping, for example, are owed the highest duty of care by the premises owner for their safety while on the premises. The property owner’s failure to keep his or her premises in a safe condition or to warn a business invitee of any dangerous conditions on the premises may be found to constitute a breach of the duty of care owed to the business invitee and result in the owner’s liability for any injuries sustained by the invitee as a result. The owner may be found liable for a business invitee’s injury or death as a result of dangerous conditions known to the owner and dangerous conditions of which the owner reasonably should have been aware.
Licensees, who may include neighbors, relatives, or friends invited onto a property owner’s premises for a social purpose or who stop by without invitation but are made welcome by the owner, are owed the second highest degree of care for their safety while they are on a property owner’s premises. The owner has a duty toward licensees to keep the property in a reasonably safe condition and to warn licensees of any dangerous conditions known by the property owner to exist.
Trespassers are owed the lowest duty of care for their safety by property owners. The owner has the duty not to recklessly or intentionally cause harm to a trespasser and to warn the trespasser of not easily detectable dangers once the owner is aware of the trespasser’s presence. When the trespasser is a child, however, the owner has a duty to take reasonable precautions to protect the child from harm.
The negligence of other individuals and entities may also result in an accident victim’s injury or death. Negligent drivers, for instance, may be held liable for personal injuries or deaths caused by their negligent driving. Negligent supervisors, healthcare workers, caregivers, and other individuals responsible for someone’s care may be found liable for injuries or deaths caused by their negligent supervision or care.
Liability for Accident Injuries and Deaths Caused by Defective Products
When a victim’s accident injury or death is caused by the victim’s use of or exposure to a defective product, the designer, manufacturer, and others in the chain of the product’s distribution may be found liable for the accident victim’s injury or death. Though product liability actions may be maintained as breach of warranty, negligence, or strict liability claims, actions to recover damages for an accident victim’s injury or death that has been caused by a product defect are usually brought as strict liability actions. This allows the plaintiff to establish the liability of the defendants without having to prove that any of the defendants were negligent in producing the defective product or in releasing it to the market. The plaintiff in a strict liability action will be required to show that the defect existed at the time of the victim’s accident, that the defect was a cause of the victim’s injury or death, that the product was being used as it was intended to be used, and that the plaintiff suffered legally compensable damages as a result of the victim’s injury or death.
Contact Us
If you have been injured or one of your family members has been killed in an accident of any type as a result of someone’s negligence or a defective product, The Killino Firm’s Miami, Florida, accident attorneys can help you obtain the compensation to which you and your family are entitled. Contact us at 305-559-6340 for expert and experienced assistance with your accident case.
