Public or private, fireworks displays large and small are a souce of enjoyment for many and will attract onlookers from every walk of life. It’s a rare occasion when a fireworks display does not attract attention. Spectacular pyrotechnics, however, are deceptive in their beauty. Fireworks are capable of causing severe harm. They can cause fire, errant explosions and result in critical injuries to often unsuspecting onlookers. In fact, emergency rooms are flooded each summer with victims of fireworks injuries. Often, these victims are onlookers or bystanders who simply sought to witness the display.
When Neglect is The Cause of Fireworks Injuries
When fireworks go wrong and cause injury, can a victim sue for personal injury damages? Well, like most other personal injury cases, it all depends on the circumstances. At it’s simplist, if the fireworks injury was the result of negligence on the part of the presenter or the individual(s) responsible for setting off the fireworks, you may indeed have a strong case for personal injury damages. Quite often when fireworks go wrong, it’s due to a failure to properly follow instructions on the use of the products.
(Negligence as Defined in Personal Injury Claims)
Pranksters looking to get a reaction may, perhaps, throw fire crackers into a crowd, for instance. Someone might point a Roman Candle into the direction of onlookers sending incindiary projectiles flying into bystanders. These examples represent antics we see every year during fireworks season, and while oftentimes they result in no real harm, when they do, the damage can be severe. And when that happens, the case may be made for neglect simply because the resonsible party did not follow clear instructions that were given for the fireworks’ use.
Proving negligence in a fireworks personal injury claim revolves around first establihing that the defendent had a duty of care to the injured party, a responisbility to act reasonably. Next, it must be shown that that duty was, in fact, breached and that that breach of duty was responsible for the victim’s injuries.
When Fireworks Injuries Result from Product Defects
Of course, not every fireworks injury has to be the result of neglect. There are times when fireworks go haywire as a result of a defect in the product itself. That defect can take the shape of a problem in the manufacturing or design process. If the product was unnecessarily incindiary or flamable, it could cause unnecessary harm or injury, causing the product to combust under conditions where fireworks should not combust. The firework product could also be designed in such a way as to explode or fire in a direction unintended by it’s manufacture.
(Read our Defective Products F.A.Q.)
Let’s say a roman candle is made to shoot strobing, colored fireballs upaward, and a defect in the makeup of the candles caused them to shoot out horizontally, close to the ground where onlookers might be. This could be the result of a product defect in either it’s original design (likely then afftecting all other examples of its make and model) or of in it’s production (which would likely then only affect the other samples of the product in that particular lot).
Finally, the defect could take the shape of a failure to warn. When fireworks are produced and sold without proper warning and instructions for use, that could be considered a product liability issue for the manufacturer, distributor, marketing team(s) and even the retailer.
Discovering the source of the flaw here or even the nature of neglect in the first example that led to injuries is a difficult and arduous process. That’s why it’s so important that you speak with an experienced personal injury attorney.
If you’re looking for an experienced Chicago personal injury lawyer to help navigate your personal injury claim, we will fight assiduously for your right to the compensation you deserve. Call Bizzieri Law Offices at 773.881.9000. The case evaluation is free, and we never charge a fee unless we recover damages for you.