The ultrahazardous activity doctrine imposes strict liability for damage proximately caused by one who carries on an "ultrahazardous" or "abnormally dangerous" activity. This means that even if the person performing the ultrahazardous or abnormally dangerous activity uses the utmost case, that person will still be held liable for any resulting damage. An activity is generally considered ultrahazardous if:

1. it involves a risk of serious harm to the person, land or chattels of others
   
2. the risk cannot be eliminated by exercise of utmost care
   
3. it is not a matter of common usage

In addition, courts determining whether an activity is ultrahazardous consider whether the activity is appropriate to the place where it is carried on and whether its value to the community is outweighed by its dangerous attributes. Some examples of activities generally considered to be ultrahazardous are handling, storing or using explosives; discharging hazardous substances; drilling oil wells; and dusting crops with pesticides.

In a product liability action, the ultrahazardous activity doctrine serves to relieve manufacturers and retailers of products that are used in ultrahazardous activities from strict liability as a matter of law. While the products manufactured or sold to support the performance of an ultrahazardous activity are not ultrahazardous themselves, their intended use constitutes an ultrahazardous activity. Nevertheless, manufacturers and retailers of oil rigging machinery, pesticides and explosives are not liable for providing the means to accomplish the ultrahazardous activities because liability has shifted to the one performing the activity.

Recently, actions have been brought against gun and tobacco manufacturers alleging that certain guns and tobacco products are ultrahazardous. California courts have rejected the notion that the sale of handguns is an ultrahazardous activity. Likewise, a number of federal courts have held that the manufacture of a non-defective gun is not an ultrahazardous activity. The Maryland Court of Appeals did, however, uphold a determination that the sale of a "Saturday Night Special," the term used for cheaply made, inferior handguns, was an ultrahazardous activity.

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