Gas Can Lawsuits

Consumer products must meet certain safety standards before they can legally become commercially available, but some products carry a greater inherent risk than others.  Your risk of getting injured by the most dangerous tube of lipstick is exponentially lower than your risk of getting injured by the safest firework.  Product manufacturers must post warning labels on their products, alerting consumers to the risks associated with the products.  This is why baby furniture comes with labels warning parents not to leave children unattended.  The furniture is safe if used for its intended purpose, which in this case means using it while the children have adequate adult supervision.  Likewise, alcoholic beverages bear warning labels about the risks of driving drunk and of consuming alcohol during pregnancy.  Consumers who get injured because of defective products or because product manufacturers fail to warn of risks have the right to file product liability lawsuits.  Things can go disastrously wrong with gas cans, and lawsuits related to these have led to major settlements for plaintiffs.  If you suffered injuries after a gas can exploded or caught fire, contact a Columbia product liability lawyer.

What Makes Gas Cans So Dangerous?

Gas cans are an enclosed container filled with a flammable substance.  They can explode if exposed to flame, or even if gasoline vapors build up inside while the gas can is closed.  Commercially available gas cans, which are usually made of plastic, contain a safety device known as a flame arrester, which is a piece of metal mesh of a metal disc with small holes.  The flame arrester absorbs heat and disperses it, preventing the gas can from overheating and exploding.  Flame arresters are available not only in the portable gas cans that you can buy at any outdoor store but also in industrial storage tanks for gasoline.

Lack of flame arresters can cause gas can accidents, as can lack of adequate safety warnings.  Since 1998, at least 11 people in the United States have died in accidents related to portable gas cans, and hundreds have suffered injuries.  Blitz, which was once the leading manufacturer of portable gas cans, went bankrupt in 2012 as a result of product liability litigation, but people who were injured by Blitz gas cans still have the right to seek damages.

Your Rights If You Get Injured in a Gas Can Explosion Accident

If you have been injured in a gas can accident, you have the right to seek damages through a product liability lawsuit.  To prevail in your claim, you must prove that your injuries are the result of the gas can accident and not a separate incident or a pre-existing medical condition.  You must also prove that the accident was due to the manufacturer’s negligence, by making a defective product or selling it without adequate warnings about the risks.  In other words, you must show that you were not using the product in an unreasonably dangerous manner.

Let Us Help You Today

The personal injury lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you pursue a complaint related to a gas can accident.  Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.

Source:

cnbc.com/2013/12/09/wal-mart-agrees-to-contribute-25-million-to-settle-gas-can-explosion-lawsuits.html