The fact that a slip-and-fall accident can happen anywhere and at any time is scary. In an instant, someone who falls can get a serious injury like a traumatic brain injury (TBI), damage to the spinal cord, a broken hip, or even die. A slip-and-fall accident can cause a lot of pain and suffering, and it can also lead to medical bills and other losses that can be very expensive.
Common locations for falling
- Wet floors from spills or shoes that have tracked in rain, mud, snow, sleet, etc., or floors that are naturally slippery like stone or glass.
- Messy hallways, aisles, and other paths to walk on
- Staircases and ramps, especially ones with broken or loose handrails or stair treads.
- Uneven surfaces, such as carpet that is torn or bunched up, bricks or paving stones that aren’t even, potholes, etc.
- Unstable surfaces, like floors with loose or broken tiles, floorboards, area rugs, etc.
- areas with not enough light
- Scaffolding and ladders
Compensation and claims
Personal injury lawyers can assist in getting compensation and claims.In a personal injury claim, a slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall accident is when someone falls or trips on someone else’s property, like in a store, business, on a public street or sidewalk, in a private home, or just about anywhere else. When property owners or other people in charge ignore dangerous conditions that cause someone to trip and fall and get hurt, they could be held responsible for the fall victim’s losses.
Negligence and type in slip and fall accidents
Slip-and-fall accident claims are based on the legal responsibility of property owners, managers, or other responsible parties to make sure their property is reasonably free of hazards or to warn visitors of an existing danger in a clear way.
If this duty isn’t met, the responsible party could be held accountable if someone gets hurt in a slip-and-fall, trip-and-fall, or other type of fall accident.
Most slip-and-fall accidents are caused by carelessness in dealing with potential dangers like:
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Wet floors
Liquid spills, like from a broken jar in a store, puddles of tracked-in rain, snow, or ice, or other accidental wetness, should be cleaned up as soon as possible. If the floors have been mopped and left to dry, visitors should be warned with “wet floor” signs.
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Ice and snow
Snow and ice that builds up on sidewalks, steps, stairs, parking lots, and other walkways is the responsibility of the property owner or manager. Local laws in New York and New Jersey say that people should start shoveling snow and putting salt or something similar on ice as soon as possible after snowfall or other bad weather ends.
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Cluttered aisles
Store owners shouldn’t stack items in the aisles or leave supplies, equipment, trash, or other things on the floor that could cause someone to trip. Large floor displays or shelves that are too full should also be avoided by store managers. This is because things can get knocked off and end up on the floor, where they can be dangerous.
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Damaged floors
Property owners and managers must keep up with maintenance needs to make sure that torn, broken, or loose carpet, area rugs, mats, floor tiles, floorboards, stair treads, etc. do not create a slip or trip hazard. Many people also fall down stairs because the handrails are loose or broken.
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Elevators
When elevators and escalators aren’t properly maintained, they can break down. If they stop or start too quickly, a passenger could slip, trip, or be knocked down in a fall. The hard surface and open, sometimes steep, moving stairs of an escalator can make injuries from falls worse.
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Slippery floor
Slip-and-fall accidents are more likely to happen on certain types of stone, ceramic tile, hardwood, glass, concrete, or other smooth flooring than on other types. Overpolishing floors and walkways can also make people more likely to slip and fall. In accident cases, architects or builders who made mistakes in the design or cleaning or janitorial contractors who didn’t do their jobs right could be at fault.
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Low lighting
When it’s dark in a hallway or on the stairs, it’s hard to see steps, obstacles, or changes in the floor’s surface. When you go from a well-lit area to a dark one, you temporarily lose your vision, which can make you trip and fall. In public areas, business managers and other property owners should put in and keep up good lighting.
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Landscape hazards
Landscape materials like pebble-sized gravel, mulch, and loose sand can make walkways dangerous if they fall out of beds and onto them. Landscapers and other workers must be careful not to leave unfinished work like holes or other uneven surfaces unmarked or unguarded, or to leave tools and equipment lying around where people could trip over them.
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Damaged sidewalks
There is a chance of tripping or slipping and falling if there are cracks in the paving stones, loose pavers, or gaps between the sidewalk pieces. Property owners should keep an eye on how their grounds look and fix things or put up signs when they need to.
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Potholes and ditches
Holes, trenches, and other openings on lawns, parking lots, and other paved areas should be filled, covered, or well-marked with warning signs and/or fencing.
Compensation in Slip and fall accidents
If someone else’s carelessness caused your accident, you might be able to get both financial and non-financial damages. But not every accident case is eligible for every type of damage. Talk to a slip and fall accident lawyer about your premises liability case if you want to find out more about it.
Depending on how badly you were hurt and what caused the accident, you may be able to get the following types of financial compensation:
- Medical bills from the accident in the past, present, and future. -Rehabilitation therapies.
- Lost wages and lost wages to come
- Medical devices like a walker or wheelchair -Prescription or over-the-counter drugs
- Costs of transportation and hiring a housekeeper
- Costs you pay on your own
You could also get money for other kinds of damages. If you were hurt badly, you probably had to go through a number of painful and uncomfortable surgeries or other medical treatments. You might have also been upset emotionally because of an accident. In some cases, you could get damages that don’t have to do with money, such as:
- Pain and suffering in the body; -Emotional pain;
- Disability
- A bad way to live
Sometimes, a plaintiff can also get punitive damages on top of any other awards. If a property owner caused harm on purpose or by being careless, a court could order them to pay punitive damages as a punishment and to stop them from being so careless in the future.
Conclusion
In a personal injury claim, a slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall accident is when someone falls or trips on someone else’s property, like in a store, business, on a public street or sidewalk, in a private home, or just about anywhere else. When property owners or other people in charge ignore dangerous conditions that cause someone to trip and fall and get hurt, they could be held responsible for the fall victim’s losses.
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