Products liability doctrine holds a manufacturer, or other party involved in selling a product, strictly liable when an article, placed into the market with knowledge that it is to be used without inspection for defects, proves to have a defect that causes a personal injury. Consumers who are injured because of a fault with a product that the consumers had no ability to protect themselves against may recover against the manufacturer under a theory of products liability.
Niota is an unincorporated community in Appanoose Township, Hancock County, Illinois. The community is located on the bank of the Mississippi River and is at the eastern end of the Fort Madison Toll Bridge, which connects Niota to Fort Madison, Iowa. Niota is the western terminus of Illinois Route 9 and is also served by Illinois Route 96, which is part of the Great River Road. The community suffered severe damage from the June 2008 Midwest floods. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) proposed that the community be relocated and incorporated at a cost of $8.5 million, though most townspeople would prefer to stay where they are.