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At some point in life, most people have tripped and fallen to the ground. Most slip-and-fall injuries are caused by a sudden or unexpected change in the walking surface. An accident can occur if we are not previously aware of a change in the surface making us unable to change our behavior to avoid the fall. When a fall is caused by the carelessness of another person, then the fall can be cause for a slip-and-fall claim.
'Slip-and-fall' is a term used for a personal injury case in which a person slips and falls and is injured due to the negligence of another person. These type of accidents fall under the broader legal term, ‘personal premises liability.' ‘Premises' means that the fall took place on someone else's property. The owner of the property may be held legally responsible for the accident. Properties can include a home, business, government facility, public property, town or city property,etc.
There are many situations that can result in a person falling. This can include poor lighting, wet floor, narrow or damaged stairs, a change in the surface of the floor, and torn carpeting. Hazardous conditions such as snow, ice, or rain on the ground, a pothole, cracked pavement, and damaged stairs or escalators, can result in a slip and fall incident.
When walking in a public place or on another person's property, we have the right to be informed about any hazards that may likely cause us harm. If we are aware of a dangerous situation, and choose to proceed, we assume some risk. If we are not informed of a hazardous situation, and we are in an accident, the owner may be held liable for the accident.
When determining whether a business or property owner knew of a hazardous condition, the following must be proved:
- The owner was responsible for creating the dangerous situation
- The owner was fully aware of the hazardous situation and failed to remove, repair, or properly inform people about the hazard
- The hazardous situation existed for a long enough time that the owner should have become aware of the situation and took the necessary steps to correct it.
There is no accurate way to determine slip and fall negligence. Generally, for a person to be held liable for another's slip and fall accident, it must be shown that the owner was careless in preventing a trip and fall condition and the victim had no way knowing about the hazard so they could not take the necessary steps to avoid the accident. A dangerous condition must present an unreasonable risk to a person on the property. For example, if a person falls because they were not looking where they were walking, the owner may not be at fault even if a serious injury occurs.
Slip-and-fall claims can be quite complicated. They can involve giving depositions, filing the appropriate paperwork, enlisting expert witnesses, and using the services of professionals who reconstruct slip-and-fall accidents. A personal injury attorney will be able to determine whether or not you have a personal injury claim. An attorney who has experience with slip-and-fall claims will know how to handle all of the details involved with proving a claim.
It is important to be aware of your environment when you are out and about. Unfortunately, there are situations where you may not be aware of the dangers. This can result in a slip and fall accident. If you suffer an injury from a slip and fall, seek medical attention immediately. If you feel someone else is responsible for the accident, consult with a personal injury lawyer.
Every year, millions of people across the country suffer injuries as a result of a slip and fall accident. Some people have even lost their lives as the result of a serious injury. If a slip and fall occurs on someone else's property, the property owner may possibly be at-fault. If one suffers a slip and fall injury on that property, they have to determine who is at fault.
The person or company maintaining the property, or the actual property owner, has a duty to ensure that foreseeable causes of an injury do not exist on the property. For instance, in a mall, when the floor is wet from mopping, staff must place safety cones around the area or post warning signs so customers take care not to walk on a wet and slippery floor. If they don't, the mall may be liable if someone slips and falls on the floor and suffers an injury.
A slip and fall injury can be the result of unsafe surfaces where people walk, torn up carpeting, icy walkways, unsecured floorboards, cracks in the pavement, improper warning about a hazardous condition ahead…etc. To determine if your injury is the result of the negligence of another, you have to determine if the conditions that caused the slip and fall were out of the ordinary or could have easily been prevented.
If a property owner has done everything to warn the public of the hazard, he or she may not be liable. As well, if the condition is common and other people have not slipped and fallen, then the property owner may not be liable. It may have just been a coincidence that one slipped and fell. As well, a property owner will likely not be liable for someone slipping and falling on something that an ordinary person would expect to avoid. That is, we all have personal responsibility to take a certain amount of care when walking
A person or company may be liable for such conditions as: if they were responsible for leaving the area dangerous such as if they caused a spill on a floor, the owner was aware that there was a dangerous situation and did nothing to fix it, and the owner should have known that a slip and fall could occur as a result of the conditions and just left the conditions in the hazardous state. As well, there could be liability if the owner did not maintain proper health and safety examinations of the property, there was no reason for the object that was tripped over to be there, there were other places where the object could have been placed that were much safer, and inadequate lighting caused the person not to see there was hazard ahead.
The best way to determine if your injury was the result of another person's negligence is to consult with a personal injury lawyer. They have the knowledge and experience to determine who was at fault for the cause of the slip and fall. As well, they have access to experts in safety, accident deconstructionists, and medical experts. By consulting with a personal injury attorney, you will get an honest assessment on whether you have a valid slip and fall claim.