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For the benefit of big out-of-state manufacturers and insurers, the 2023 Montana Legislature turned its back on 50 years of established law and transferred the risk of injury or death from dangerous products onto the backs of Montana taxpayers.
It didn’t take Americans long to figure out that products such as automobiles, trucks, farm equipment and household appliances, when defectively designed or manufactured, cause injury and death. Early versions of auto windshields shattered into sword-like shards, roofs collapsed and steering wheel posts impaled drivers in collisions. Farmers and ranchers lost feet, hands, arms or legs in equipment with unshielded moving belts, gears, chains and shafts. Loggers and heavy equipment operators were unprotected during rollovers and from falling objects. Poorly designed household appliances caught fire, caused electrocutions and trapped children inside.
The carnage required action and the law responded more than 60 years ago.
In Montana, both the courts and our legislature imposed strict liability for dangerous products on those manufacturers that caused the problem for these reasons: (1) Manufacturers that place their products on the market in the first place are in the best position to anticipate and guard against the hazards; (2) The average shopper, lulled by fancy marketing, does not have the slightest idea how to determine whether a product is safely designed; (3) Legal accountability discourages the design, manufacture and marketing of defective products; and (4) Manufacturers can insure themselves and distribute the cost among the public efficiently in the pricing of their products.
dailymontanan.com
It didn’t take Americans long to figure out that products such as automobiles, trucks, farm equipment and household appliances, when defectively designed or manufactured, cause injury and death. Early versions of auto windshields shattered into sword-like shards, roofs collapsed and steering wheel posts impaled drivers in collisions. Farmers and ranchers lost feet, hands, arms or legs in equipment with unshielded moving belts, gears, chains and shafts. Loggers and heavy equipment operators were unprotected during rollovers and from falling objects. Poorly designed household appliances caught fire, caused electrocutions and trapped children inside.
The carnage required action and the law responded more than 60 years ago.
In Montana, both the courts and our legislature imposed strict liability for dangerous products on those manufacturers that caused the problem for these reasons: (1) Manufacturers that place their products on the market in the first place are in the best position to anticipate and guard against the hazards; (2) The average shopper, lulled by fancy marketing, does not have the slightest idea how to determine whether a product is safely designed; (3) Legal accountability discourages the design, manufacture and marketing of defective products; and (4) Manufacturers can insure themselves and distribute the cost among the public efficiently in the pricing of their products.
Killed or maimed by a product? The Montana Legislature says, 'Good luck.' – Daily Montanan
If a product is poorly designed or even lethal, that doesn't matter anymore in Montana because lawmakers have exempted them from liability.
dailymontanan.com
