The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recorded 17 child deaths due to toy-related incidents in 2018. For the same year, the agency reported over 226,000 child emergency room visits due to toy injuries. For these exact reasons, product liability law requires toy manufacturers and distributors to trade in safe products and warn consumers of hazards. When they fall short of their legal duties, personal injury lawyers help parents hold companies accountable for harming their children. 

What Your Lawsuit Must Prove

Very few things provoke your emotions like threats to your children. Product liability law will be on your side when the evidence fulfills the legal standards for a defective product claim. 

To prepare your lawsuit, a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer will need to show that:

• The toy possessed an unexpected and dangerous defect.
• The injury resulted from a dangerous defect.
• The product was in its original form at the time of injury.

As the statistics quoted above indicate, your suspicions about a potentially defective toy are warranted. If you did not alter the product and your child was using it as intended, then a defect may be to blame for the harm that your child suffered. 

Strict Liability or Negligence?

Defective toy lawsuits frequently pursue compensation for the victim based on strict liability. Under the principle of strict liability, you have a right to damages if the product’s defect hurt your child as long as the toy was used for its intended purpose. You do not have to prove that any negligence or desire to deceive consumers resulted in an unsafe toy. 

However, some cases may call for accusations of actual negligence. A defective toy lawsuit based on negligence needs to present evidence of a designer’s or manufacturer’s disregard for product safety. 

At times, injury attorneys may cite breach of warranty as the cause of the injury. When a breach of warranty occurs, you were misled by a promise from the toy manufacturer or seller about the purpose of the toy or its expected performance. A Las Vegas personal injury lawyer researching your child’s toy injury can identify the precise legal direction that your lawsuit should take. 

Sources of Product Liability

Defects that make a toy dangerous arise from design flaws, manufacturing errors, or marketing mistakes. A design flaw produces a product that cannot operate safely for its intended use. A manufacturing problem introduces harmful materials or weak construction that makes the toy unable to perform as intended. Marketing defects encompass failures to warn you about the ways that your product can harm your child. 

Examples of Dangerous Toys

Choking hazards threaten very small children who are prone to putting things in their mouths. Something as simple as a balloon can become lodged in your child’s throat and potentially kill. Toys with small parts that can be easily broken off could pose another choking hazard. An example would be buttons that easily pull off a doll’s clothing.

Kids love to play with toy guns, but almost any projectile could injure an eye or become a choking hazard. Even seemingly safe toys that only shoot foam sticks or balls can cause harm in some situations.

Cords and long fabric pieces sometimes strangle children who become tangled in them or catch them on machinery. 

Electrical fires caused by malfunctioning motors or computer components can damage property or inflict severe burns on a child. For example, some models of hoverboards have started fires. 

Toxic materials also endanger your children. Even if a toy’s design is benign, your child might be picking up poison every time he or she touches it. A makeup kit for a young child might have lead in it. 

Expenses That You Can Claim

Product liability law authorizes the recovery of many forms of expenses that your family may have incurred due to a defective toy injury. Injury attorneys help people tally their damages and prepare a lawsuit that thoroughly details all legitimate expenses. 

You may seek compensation for:

• Hospital bills
• Physical therapy bills
• Lost income due to you caring for your injured child
• Disability
• Pain and suffering
• Punitive damages

The Importance of Detailed Legal Support 

Multiple parties are involved in the manufacturer and sale of toys. Some of these companies might operate domestically, while others are overseas. Figuring out who made the mistakes that hurt your child usually requires a thorough investigation. This can be a time-consuming process. To avoid getting cut off by the statute of limitations on Nevada’s injury claims, you should start the legal process as soon as possible. 

Preventing additional child injuries also injects a sense of urgency. Taking legal action may trigger a toy recall that spares other people from the distress of a child’s injury. Additionally, other people might have already experienced the same terrible outcome, and a class-action lawsuit could develop. The knowledgeable personal injury lawyers at Moss Berg are fully prepared to pursue compensation for defective toy injuries. Contact our office today to schedule a free consultation.