A slip and fall injury occurs when someone slips, trips or falls as a result of a dangerous or hazardous condition on someone else's property.
It includes falls as a result of water, ice or snow, as well as abrupt changes in flooring, uneven steps, loose or no handrailings, wet or slippery surfaces, broken floor or steps, cracked or broken sidewalks, poor lighting, or a hidden hazard, such as a gap or hard to see hole in the ground.
Determining Liability
To be legally responsible for the injuries you suffered from slipping and falling or tripping on someone else's property, one of the following must be true:
The owner of the premises or an employee must have caused the spill, worn or torn spot, or other slippery or dangerous surface or item to be underfoot.
The owner of the premises or an employee must have known of the dangerous surface but done nothing about it.
Proving Fault in Slip and Fall Accidents
If you slip and fall on someone else's property, the property owner may be liable for your injuries.
Who is responsible for an injury resulting from a slip and fall accident? Many thousands of people are injured each year -- some very seriously -- when they slip or trip and fall on a dangerous floor, a flight of stairs, or a rough patch of ground. Sometimes the property owner is responsible for the accident, and sometimes he or she is not.
If you have been injured in this way, first consider that it is a normal part of living for things to fall on or to drip onto a floor or the ground, and for smooth surfaces to become uneven. Also, some things put in the ground -- drainage grates, for example -- serve a useful purpose there. So a property owner (or occupier) cannot always be held responsible for immediately picking up or cleaning every slippery substance on a floor. Nor is a property owner always responsible for someone slipping or tripping on something that an ordinary person should expect to find there or should see and avoid. We all have an obligation to watch where we're going.
Contact Me about your Slip and Fall Injury or other Personal Injury case.