No one expects their smartphone to be an explosive hazard, but that’s just the kind of story that has come to light the past year. It’s such an issue that one brand was banned completely from all airlines during commercial flights. It is completely unacceptable for a product such as a phone to explode randomly; this puts customers at extreme risks with no reason to expect any sort of danger. This is a very clear case of product liability due to design or manufacturing negligence. If you or someone you know has suffered injuries from a smartphone or any other product, seek legal advice from a Las Vegas defective product lawyer.
One individual is suing Samsung for the explosive nature of the Samsung Galaxy S7. Apparently, the claimant’s phone exploded in his pocket while he was at work at a construction site, leading to third degree burns on his leg and second degree burns on his hands. The leg burns were so severe that he required skin grafting.
After at least 35 phones of this specific model caught fire soon after the release, Samsung issued a recall for approximately 2.5 million phones in 10 countries. It is absurd that consumers spend large sums of money on phones that are advertised as a benefit only to have those very phone’s catch fire and cause injury. If you have been a victim of any smartphone explosion, contact a burn injury lawyer.
In the state of Nevada, issues with defective products are subject to penalty under the Strict Product Liability Law. This law intends to hold individuals or groups responsible for the injuries caused by a defective product. The court aims to place liability on whatever entity will be best able to reduce the unnecessary danger. That means that even though manufacturers aren’t the insurers of their products, they may be held responsible for injuries due to defects.
There are four basic elements that must be shown by the complainant in order to have a strong case for product liability:
A Las Vegas personal injury lawyer can explain more as it pertains to your case but essentially this means that the victim must show that the individual or group they are seeing is responsible for the defect that caused their injury while they were using their smartphone as normal. If you put your smartphone in a potato gun and then get injured when it’s launched, you probably won’t have a strong case of product liability since no one would expect you to launch it from a potato gun. A phone sitting in your pocket minding its own business should absolutely not explode or catch fire.
Nevada law also states that a product that does not include a warning that adequately indicates the potential dangers of the product’s use or misuse may be considered defective. If the product has the appropriate warnings describing how to use a product safely, it is not considered defective. Since smartphone explosions are not a reasonable result of use or misuse, even a sufficient warning would probably not protect the company responsible.
If there is evidence that a defective product lacked safety features or could have been designed in a safer way, there is a strong case for product liability. In the case of Samsung Galaxy S7, the lithium-ion battery’s heat protector was cramping other parts of the phone, causing them to short-circuit. The batteries themselves also had issues, such as missing insulation tape, having insufficient protectors, or even having sharp protrusions that could damage other parts of the phone and lead to malfunctioning.
Even though Samsung got the batteries from another company, it is unacceptable to use defunct batteries. The phones easily could have been produced in a safer way by using better batteries and giving the rest of the internal parts more room. Companies are responsible for ensuring that their products are not defective, which obviously is not done when a cell phone explodes at random. If a cell phone randomly explodes and causes an injury, contact a lawyer.
We trust companies to provide safe products that do not unreasonably put consumers in danger. When products don’t function as they are expected to, the malfunction may result in property damage or personal injury. Consumers may be eligible for monetary compensation for many things, such as:
If you have suffered an injury or experienced a loss due to a smartphone malfunction, contact an experienced lawyer as soon as possible. Learn whether you have a strong case and discuss your options for obtaining the compensation you deserve.
With over 15 years of experience handling personal injury claims of all types, you can trust Harris & Harris Injury Lawyers to represent you and fight to get the compensation you deserve.
Call Harris & Harris Injury Lawyers today on (702) 384-1414. You can also submit our online contact form and we will get back to you promptly.