Half of Americans Have Owned a Recalled Product, Says New FindLaw.com Survey

EAGAN, Minn., April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Half of Americans say they have owned a recalled consumer product, according to a new national survey by FindLaw.com (http://www.findlaw.com), the most popular legal information Web site. One-third of Americans say they have owned an automobile that was recalled.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), 465 consumer products were voluntarily recalled by their manufacturers in 2009. The CPSC estimates that consumer products – both recalled and unrecalled – are involved in more than 8,000 deaths and 14 million injuries each year.  

The FindLaw.com survey found that 47 percent of American adults say that they have owned at least one recalled consumer product. According to the FindLaw survey, here are the most common recalled consumer products that people have owned:

• Automobile – 33%
• Child or infant product or toy – 16%
• Household appliance – 12%
• Drug – 7%
• Medical device – 3%
• Other – 4%

Once they are aware that a product has been recalled, most consumers take remedial action.  Seventy-six percent of people who owned a recalled product say that they participated in the recall by either returning the product or having it repaired.

"Manufacturers and sellers are responsible for making sure their products are not defective or dangerous," said Stephanie Rahlfs, an attorney and editor with FindLaw.com. "When someone is killed or injured because of a defective or dangerous product, a manufacturer or seller could potentially be held liable for the injuries, resulting in a damages award. Products liability lawsuits can be brought under several different liability theories, including strict product liability, breach of warranty and negligence. Qualified legal counsel can help determine what legal actions would be most appropriate."

Free information, such as finding a specific product recall, reporting a dangerous product, and legal options when someone is injured or killed by a product, can be found on Web sites such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (www.cpsc.gov) and the FindLaw Defective & Dangerous Products Center (http://injury.findlaw.com/defective-dangerous-products/).

The FindLaw.com survey was conducted using a demographically balanced telephone survey of 1,000 American adults and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percent.

Note to editors: Full survey results and analysis are available upon request.

SOURCE FindLaw.com

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