On October 4, 2019, fluidfreeride issued a recall for their Mercane WideWheel Electric Kick Scooters. According to the recall, (number 20-702), the brake caliper on the electric scooter can fail, causing the rider to lose control of the scooter; this creates the possibility of riders suffering severe bodily harm due to fall and injury risks.
Approximately 1,800 defective scooters were affected by the recall (another 66 were affected in Canada). The recall affected all Mercane WideWheel electric scooters. The scooters are foldable, have four-inch wide wheels, and come in gray aluminum allow (color). The scooters are equipped with either a single 500W motor/8.8Ah battery or with a dual 500W motor/13.2Ah battery. The electric scooters were sold online at Amazon.com, fluidfreeride.com, and ebay.com. The scooters were sold from October 2018 to September 2019 within the price range of $1,000 and $1,200.
According to the recall, fluidfreeride has received at least 15 reports of brake failures. The company has also received at least 4 reports of injuries associated with the brake failure, consisting of bloody knees, sprained ankles, and lower back bruises.
The recall suggests that all consumers who own the defective scooters immediately stop using them. The recall also suggests that consumers contact fluidfreeride for a free repair.
Should you follow the recommendations set out in the recall? Without a doubt, all parties who own the recalled scooter should stop using it immediately; but should you contact the company for a free repair? If neither you nor your family suffered any harm associated with the defective scooter, there is no harm in contacting the company for a free repair. However, you should never even consider agreeing to a free repair if you or a member of your family was harmed as a direct result of the defective product.
Instead, you should seek legal assistance as soon as possible. If you or a member of your family suffered any sort of harm related to a defective product, such as the defective electric scooters mentioned above, it is essential that you seek legal assistance to explore the possibility of pursuing a claim. If you would like to learn more about your right to pursue a claim, it is important that you contact the experts at Normandie Law Firm.
Normandie Law firm is a personal injury law firm with many years of experience handling different sorts of claims – including defective product claims. At Normandie Law Firm, we believe that all companies that negligently make defective products available for purchase should be held accountable for all the harm that their consumers suffer. If you would like to discuss your claim with our experts and learn more about your right to take legal action and even recover compensation, do not hesitate to contact our firm today. Our lawyers are ready to provide you the guidance that you need pursue your claim.
What are the Dangers of Brake Failure?
According to the recall, the breaks on the electric scooters could suddenly fail, posing a significant fall and injury risk; the reported injuries included scrapes, bruises, and sprains. Although these injuries appear to be mild, there is always the possibility that victims could suffer other, more severe, injuries. The specific injuries suffered will always depend on the details surrounding the incident, such as the speed at which the brakes failed, the location of the fall, and even the victim’s age, for example. Some of the harm that victims could suffer include the following: head injuries; brain injuries; neck injuries; back injuries; spinal injuries; joint injuries; sprains/strains, muscle damage, nerve damage, and lacerations, for example. Regardless of the specific harm that you or a member of your family suffered, it is important for you to understand that your injuries could have been prevented if the scooter had not been defective.
Product Liability and Defective Products
Based on product liability, all companies have a duty towards their consumers. They have a duty to ensure that their products are completely safe for their consumers. They must inspect and test their products thoroughly to ensure that they are safe to be used. Doing so allows companies to identify and address any potential hazards present in their products before any consumers are harmed. By failing to take the appropriate steps to identify and address any hazards present in their products (and by making defective products available for purchase), companies are putting their consumers at severe risk of injury.
As soon as a breached duty of care leads to consumer harm, a company could be held accountable. After all, if they had effectively exercised their duty of care, they would have never made a defective product available for their consumers. As long as the product defect is relevant to the product’s design, manufacturing, or labeling, the company could be held accountable.
Could you file a product liability claim? If a product defect directly caused the harm that you or a member of your family suffered, you will likely have grounds to pursue a claim – depending on the details of your claim, you might even be eligible to receive compensation.
Could I Recover Compensation if I was harmed by a Defective Product?
Did you suffer harm because of the defective electric scooter? As explained above, you might have grounds to pursue a claim if you suffered harm associated with a defective product. If your claim is valid and reaches a successful outcome, you will likely be eligible to recover at least some sort of compensation.
Every claim is different, and there is never a guarantee regarding the specific compensation that you could be eligible to recover. Some of the compensation that is typically available for recovery, however, could include the following:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Pain and suffering
- Property damage
- Loss of consortium
- Funeral and burial costs
- Punitive damages
What type of compensation could you be eligible to receive? What type of compensation are you likely to be able to recover? The answers to these questions will always depend on the specific details of your claim. If you would like to learn more about the type and amount of compensation that you could be eligible to receive, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with our experts immediately.
At Normandie Law Firm, our lawyers are ready to aggressively fight for your right to recover the maximum amount of compensation available for your claim. If you would like to learn more about the type and amount of compensation that you could recover if you were harmed by a defective product, such as the defective electric scooters mentioned above, to not hesitate to seek legal assistance with our product liability lawyers as soon as possible – our lawyers are ready to fight for your right to recover the compensation that you deserve.
What Should I do after being harmed by a Defective Product?
If you were harmed by a defective product, it is essential that you take the appropriate action. Many affected parties mistakenly follow the recommendations set out in the recall. In product liability cases, following such recommendations could prevent affected victims from pursuing a claim.
Are you willing to risk losing your right to pursue a claim simply because you didn’t act accordingly? If not, consider the following the steps mentioned below:
- Seek medical attention immediately – seeking the evaluation of a medical professional will always be the most important thing to do after suffering any sort of injury. A medical evaluation will create a clear correlation between the incident with the defective product and the harm that you suffered
- Take photos of all injuries suffered – your injuries are likely to heal; therefore, it is essential that you photograph all visible injuries. You should photograph your injuries before and after treatment. If your injuries resulted in scars, you should also photograph your scars.
- Take photos of the defective product – because defective brakes might not be captured in photographs, you should at least take photos of the scooter after the crash. If the defective brake caliper actually broke, this should be photographed as well.
- Contact the company – you will need to contact the company to report the accident that you suffered and the defect present in the product. You should be cautious to avoid providing any information that could be used against you.
- Do not agree to return the defective product to the company
- Do not agree to a free repair
- Do not agree to a full or partial refund
- Do not sign any documents provided by the company
- Stop use of the defective product – stop using the product and keep it in a safe area. Do not try to fix the defective product yourself or tamper with it in any way.
- Gather records – you should gather all records associated with the purchase of the defective product, including receipts, email confirmations, and even bank statements.
- Gather witness information – there might have been witnesses to your accident. Your claim could benefit from a witness who saw that you attempted to stop the scooter but the brakes did not respond. You should ensure to gather witness contact information.
- Identify surveillance cameras – it is possible that your accident was captured on video. Look around the scene of the accident and identify any cameras that might have caught the incident. You should also take note of the exact date and time of the incident to facilitate the process of looking through footage.
- Seek legal assistance – although having legal guidance does not guarantee that your claim will reach a successful outcome, having the appropriate legal representation will better the possibility of reaching a successful claim outcome.
If you would like to learn more about the specific actions that you should take after being harmed by a defective product, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with our experts as soon as possible. Our lawyers are ready to guide you every step of the way.
How Long Do I Have to File My Defective Product Claim?
All claims are subject to strict deadlines – or statutes of limitations. A statute of limitations determines the specific length of time that claimants have to file their claims. If claimants do not file their claims within the appropriate length of time, they will lose their right to sue – and lose their right to receive any sort of compensation. How long do you have to pursue your claim for the harm that you suffered because of the defective electric scooter?
In the state of California, product liability claims are subject to a two-year statute of limitations, meaning that claimants will have only two years to file their claims. However, exceptions could apply. Specific details, such as the age of the victim and whether the defendant leaves the state, could affect the statute of limitations. In other words, these details could toll or pause the statute of limitations, giving claimants even more time to sue. For more information about the specific deadline that applies to your claim, do not hesitate to contact our firm immediately; our lawyers are ready to evaluate your claim and ensure that your claim is handled within the appropriate deadlines.
Who Should I Contact if I was harmed by a Defective Product?
You were harmed by a defective product – now, what? After being harmed by a defective product, such as the Mercane WideWheel Electric Scooters mentioned above, you might have grounds to pursue a claim; therefore, it is essential that you contact an experienced attorney. At Normandie Law Firm, our lawyers have many years of experience handling all sorts of claims, including product liability claims. Our experts are ready to provide you with the representation that you need to reach a successful claim outcome.
When you contact our firm, you will be able to benefit from our free legal services, which include free consultations and free second opinions. During our free consultations and free second opinions, our lawyers will be available to answer all your questions, address all your concerns, and provide you with all the information that you need to either begin or continue your legal process against the company that negligently made the defective product available for purchase.
Our free legal services are available as part of our Zero-Fee guarantee – a guarantee that ensures that our clients will never be required to pay any upfront legal fees for any of our legal services. Our firm is also strictly based on a contingency structure, which means that our clients will never be required to pay anything until after reaching a successful claim outcome.
If you are ready to discuss your claim with our product liability experts, contact us today.
