If a product is designed in such way that it is foreseeable that injury could result, and if the risk of injury could have been reduced by an alternative design, then a product is said to be defective in its design. When looking at alternative designs, the court will look at the costs associated with the alternative designs, whether the proposed alternative would in fact have reduced the foreseeable risks of harm associated with the product, and whether the failure to use the alternative design made the product unreasonably unsafe at the time it was manufactured.
Learned Hand's famous B<pL formula in the Carroll Towing case is designed to increase the overall social welfare. It is basically a cost-benefit analysis in which B = the burden or cost associated in preventing the harm and p = the probability that such an accident may occur and L= the degee or severity of the injury to be prevented. Therefore if the likelihood of the accident multiplied by the severity of the harm outweighs the burden, then the cost of preventitive measures is outweighed by the harm to be avoided and should be incurred. Conversely, if the cost to prevent an accident outweighs the probability and consequent severity of the injury, then the preventative measures should not be required. Essentially it is an awareness by the courts that we live in a world of finite resouces that should be allocated in such a way that it does the most good. Actually, a pistol made prior to the transfer bar design would most likely not be found defective, even though this is precisely why Ruger will retrofit a transfer bar in any of its older pistols free of charge.
I would even go so far as to say that Freedom Arms could continue making their pistol without a transfer bar and win a subsequent similar lawsuit, if they don't tout the safety of their product and insure that potential buyers are fully apprized and warned of the dangers inherent in an older design. Since there apparently were not any punitive damages awarded, the jury evidently found that the defendant's action were not outrageous or particularly egregious. Still, a transfer bar would be the simplest and cheapest solution for Freedom Arms to impliment.
