Hundreds to thousands of people are injured each year due to slip and fall accidents. They fall because of uneven ground, a wrinkle in carpeting or cracked, warped tiling. The reasons for the slip and fall vary depending on the property. In the course of daily living, items fall on the ground and surfaces can become hazardous through no one’s fault.
Property Owners
Whether a homeowner, property owner or business owner, there’s a certain amount of responsibility they must take in keeping their property free of dangers. They have to keep their property in good repair. Ripped carpeting should be repaired promptly. Stairs and railings have to be sturdy and safe for common use.
Carelessness
In the case of a trip and fall claim, a judge will determine whether the person who fell had a hand in the negligence. The judge will often consider whether the victim could have avoided the dangerous area. He or she will consider if the victim had a responsibility in the resulting accident. The judge will measure the comparative negligence of the victim, which helps the judge decide how responsible each party was for the resulting slip and fall or trip and fall accident.
Liability
There are determinations that have to be made in a slip and fall accident to find out who was responsible for the accident and whether the property owner could have taken reasonable actions to remove the danger.
The property owner must have known about the dangerous surface and done nothing to warn anyone of the danger, or done nothing to repair or remove the danger. A wet floor with no sign to warn of the danger would be one instance of a property owner’s negligence. If the wet floor has a sign, it’s the injury victim who should have taken steps to avoid the area. This is factored when the judge rules on whether the property owner is liable.
If there is a torn or broken piece of carpeting or tile, it must be obvious that the property owner knew about it, or should have known about it and fixed it. The judge will ask if the property owner has a procedure for repairs. He or she will determine if the owner should have known about the faulty carpet or tile.
Orange slip and fall accident lawyers can tell an injury victim if he or she has a case against a property owner for negligence in the accident.
