Liability for personal injuries - Essay Example

LIABILITY FOR PERSONAL INJURIES [School] Number] May 28, Liability for Personal Injuries The suit forbreach of warranty and damages filed by Smith against the car dealer shall prosper. Sec.2-302(1) Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) has laid down the “doctrine of unconscionability” wherein the courts are allowed to declare contracts as unconscionable, or a part of thereof, and disallow the enforcement of unconscionable contracts. The basis of the court in declaring a contract as unconscionable is when such contract has the tenor of being inequitable or one-sided, and leaning towards the benefit of only one party.

According to Emanuel (2006), “a substantively unconscionable contract exists when there is either and excessive price or an unfair modification of either the seller’s or buyer’s remedies”. In the given example, the sales contract entered by the car dealer (seller) and Smith (buyer) contained a provision wherein the seller expressly disclaims any liability for personal injuries caused to the buyer, as a result of defects in the car and limiting the remedy for breach of warranty to repair or replacement of the defective part.

As it turns-out, one month after purchasing the car, Smith was seriously injured when the car swerved off the road and fell into a ditch as a result of a defect in the steering mechanism of the car.  Here, the limitation given to the Smith to recover from a breach of warranty for personal injury or for the repair or replacement of the defective part of the car should be declared as unconscionable by the court. Therefore, the contract disclaimer shall be disregarded by the court and shall allow the buyer to recover damages from the seller, based on the breach of warranty for the personal injury suffered by buyer.

A person who is injured by a defective product can seek recovery for damages based on breach of warranty. “The basis for recovery shall be implied warranty of merchantability, and the injured party may hold that the product was not of average quality” (Whittington, 2010). References Emanuel, S. L. (2006). Contracts. Emanuel Law Outlines. New York, USA: Aspen Publishers. Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Sec.2-302(1) Whittington, O.R. (2010). Wiley CPA Exam Review Fast Track Study Guide. USA: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.