Optional Safety Equipment

Editor's Note: In last month's newsletter, the author began a discussion of the manufacturer practice of making increased safety features available to purchasers — but only for a price. Those who buy the base model forgo the enhanced safety equipment. This marketing model has been used extensively in many areas, the most familiar probably being the the sale of cars, which might come with anti-lock brakes or rear-view cameras only if the purchaser hands over several thousand dollars above the car's base price. Now, courts are increasingly being asked to determine whether consumers injured by a product that does not have enhanced safety features — because they were not purchased — can hold the manufacturer or others liable for an injury that could have been avoided had those safety features been there. The discussion concludes herein.