ABA Family Legal Guide

Personal Injury

Strict Liability

We live near a site where a gasoline company stores its flammable liquids. Would we be able to recover damages if an accident were to occur?

Probably. Courts have found such storage to be an inherently dangerous activity. This means that the act is hazardous by its very nature, whether it is done well or poorly. Courts normally are likely to impose strict liability against the company for injuries that an accident may cause.

Courts still might look at the location of the storage, however. If storage in the middle of a large city poses unusual and unacceptable risks, then courts might impose strict liability. The same holds true when a factory emits smoke, dust, or noxious gases in the middle of a town. But a company may not be held strictly liable if it conducts such activities in a remote rural area and is not doing the activity in any unusual manner.