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.
Hockley, Texas is an unincorporated community located in Harris County, Texas, United States along on Texas State Highway 6, approximately five miles southeast of the city hall of Waller, and thirty-six miles northwest of Downtown Houston. The community serves as the main hub for railway traffic serving Houston, Austin, and many parts of central Texas. The Southern Pacific rail line is one of the community's major employers. The community is surrounded by grain farms and cattle ranches.