Washington DC - Senate Votes to Protect Consumers With Stronger Product Safety Laws
In March of this year, according to a story in the New York Times, the Senate, responding to an ever-increasing number of injuries from defective toys and other consumer products, approved a measure to overhaul the country’s product liability laws and to fortify the safety agency that is charged with oversight of the consumer marketplace.
The new legislation will increase the staff and budget of the Consumer Product Safety Commission as well as create a public database which will contain consumer complaints about defective products. These changes will allow state prosecutors to take action if they believe that the federal government is not acting to protect consumers.
According to the Times, this is the first time in eighteen years that Congress has acted to adopt major consumer product legislation. The new legislation comes at a time when federal regulators are playing ‘catch up’ in a world of explosive growth of foreign imports. This is especially true when the imports are coming from countries with little to no safety standards. In which case the new legislation could prevent someone from being killed or injured by a defective product from one such country.
Many safety standards that had previously been only voluntary will now be mandatory, and toys would be required to undergo testing in compliance with a comprehensive new set of rules. The Senate bill goes further in increasing the maximum penalty for violations of safety standards from $1.2 million up to a maximum of $20 million.
Both Republicans and Democrats regaled the Senate with stories and pictures of children who were killed or injured by defective products like cribs that collapsed; toys laced with lead; and magnets small enough to be swallowed by unsuspecting children. Just quick glances at the recent press releases by the Consumer Product Safety Commission are convincing, as they indicate a dangerous problem with cribs sold at Babies “R” Us. The $450.00 cribs are a product imported from Taiwan. Additionally, a CPSC report covers recalls on over 20 other products just for the month of June, 2008.
When you, as a consumer, purchase a product you have the right to rely on the manufacturer and the retailer to provide you with a product that is safe. If you, a friend, or a family member has been seriously injured by any product, please call the defective product attorneys at Wingate, Russotti & Shapiro, LLP, for a free consultation regarding your case.
The law offices of Wingate, Russotti & Shapiro, LLP have been helping injured consumers for many years. In one recent case, WRS Partner, Kenneth J. Halperin, obtained a $565,000 settlement for a former N.Y.C.T.A worker who sustained an electrical shock while inspecting a propulsion system supplied by a foreign manufacturer. The case involved complex products liability and negligence issues. As a result of the accident, the victim sustained multiple injuries including a mild traumatic brain injury that left him with memory and cognitive problems.
