The United States is a country of consumerism and capitalism. With the holidays quickly approaching, shoppers are hitting the stores with an even higher frequency to buy gifts for their loved ones. When searching for that perfect gift, however, we tend to neglect the possible safety hazards that defective products can pose.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is an independent agency created by the U.S. federal government in order to protect us from the risks that products pose to the American public. When a product is found to pose any kind of risk to the public, the Commission often issues a recall. Products that have been recalled in the past include:

· Cars

· Toys

· Microwaves

· Tires

· Cribs

· Air bags

· Batteries

· AC Adapters

· Furniture

· MP3 Players

· Outdoor Playground Equipment

As you can see from the list above, a large variety of the products people use every day have been recalled.

Cribs Kill Two

In 2007, two babies, both 8 months old, died because of the failure of safety pegs in their cribs that were supposed to hold the drop side of the crib in place. These pegs failed, causing the drop side to lower and leave a gap. Both children suffocated after getting stuck in the gap left in the crib.

For the families of these children the recall of the cribs, which was released by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in October of 2008, could not have come soon enough. It is unfortunate that sometimes tragedies like these have to occur in order for the hazard posed by such products to become apparent.

The fact is, injuries attributable to defective products occur all too often. It is for that reason that companies can be held responsible should their products prove to be defective under products liability law.

If you or a loved one has been injured because of a defective product, please visit the website of Dallas, Texas product liability attorneys Polewski & Associates today.