My child insists that his bike stopped steering correctly before he crashed into a legally parked car and suffered head, facial and dental injuries. How can we prove that the bike was broken?
It will both be very difficult and very expensive for you to prove that the bicycle was defective. That is the reason that when a product is believed to be defective, the manufacturer and/or seller can be held strictly liable.
Here are some questions that you will need to answer first, however. First, had your child ever noticed a steering problem with the bike before the accident, and if he had, did he keep riding the bike without having it repaired? Second, did anyone substantially modify the bike after it was brought home from the store? Third, was your son riding his bike as it was intended to be ridden in other words, was he doing anything that might have affected the steering such as riding with another child riding on the handlebars? If you can answer no to these questions, you probably have a products liability case against the manufacturer and/or the seller of the bike. Any yes answers to these questions may reduce your damages or shift the liability to you or your son entirely.
If the liability does shift to you, your automobile insurance policy may include coverage that would extend to your child under these circumstances. If you know who manufactured the bike, file a claim first with the manufacturer; if not, file a claim with the store where you purchased the bike.
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