Compensation for Bystander Injuries in Strict Products Liability: Why It is Important to Afford Bystanders with More Protection than Consumers or Users of Products

This article will consider issues relating to the responsibility of sellers and others who furnish defective products for injuries to bystanders in the context of strict products liability. The article builds upon prior research in delineating the origin and nature of products liability litigation, the theories of recovery for injuries, and the nature of damages caused by defective products, and the development of strict product liability in tort. Consider this scenario: Walter is peacefully walking his dog Gertie down Tenth Avenue when the popcorn machine on the Belmar Boardwalk explodes sending mounds of hot cooking oil into the air. The oil covers Walter’s (and Gertie’s) torso and both are whisked away to their respective hospitals for treatment for serious burns. It turns out that a switch in the machine had been manufactured improperly causing a defect in the electrical line. Can Walter recover for his own serious injuries? Can Walter recover for the injuries to Gertie? And, suppose that Walter was not himself physically injured, but had suffered emotional distress in observing several patrons at the Boardwalk refreshment stand who had been burned over significant portions of their bodies?