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.
Rapidan is a small unincorporated community in Culpeper County, Virginia, United States. Bisected by the Rapidan River, it is home to the Rapidan historic district and dates to the 18th century, when it was a mill town known as Waugh's Ford. It was renamed Rapid Ann Station in 1854 and Rapidan in 1886. The town was mostly destroyed in the American Civil War and later became a center for the shipment of wood products. The community and surrounding counties are served by the Rapidan Volunteer Fire Department, officially formed in 1978.