Research says that one person out of four in the United States falls in a year. There are several reasons for slipping and falling, but one remains at the top, which is carelessness.
It could be by the victim himself who did not look around while walking or doing an activity and accidentally slipped on the floor or the owner of the property where he fell. You can easily demand compensation for your damages if you think the property owner could have avoided the situation, but only if you succeed in proving the person at fault.
A slip and fall accident happens in a matter of seconds, but it can affect the victim for quite a long time. Here are some causes of slip and fall accidents that can be tied to negligence:
- Darkness in an area
- Poorly-constructed or uneven floors
- Broken footpaths and roads
- Wet or newly polished floors
- Torn carpets or slippery rugs
- Uncleaned walking areas or obstacles in between
- Broken or loose stairs
How Could the Property Owner Avoid the Accident?
Conditions you could have taken care of or environmental issues that should be obvious do not allow filing any lawsuit, as you could have prevented it if you knew about your surroundings being dangerous or by being a little more alert while walking.
Many factors depend on whether the property owner could be held accountable for the accident or solely the victim’s carelessness. However, they must take care of the safe environment of their public place all the time. They are responsible for arranging a sound and secure setup for everyone, like covering life-threatening areas for children and building adequate infrastructure to ensure nobody slips and falls.
Moreover, there are some facts that courts and insurance companies consider to judge the fault in slip and fall accident cases.
Slip and Fall Accident Case Responsibility
If you ever get injured due to falling on someone else’s property and also because of their negligence, then you will need to prove either of these to dominate the case:
- The property owner or the staff knew about the risky condition but did not do anything to fix it.
- The property owner or the staff made the circumstances dangerous.
- The property owner or the staff should have been aware of the environment being dangerous.
However, all these are not easy to prove. It would help if you indeed have solid reasoning, and the claim has to be valid, too. It will all be up to the judge to determine whether who is at fault, if you could have saved yourself from slipping, or if the owner could have taken safety measures in the first place.
Suppose you are right in asking for the losses in a slip and fall accident case. You will have to see what damages you want to seek your compensation for, like medical expenses, lost salaries, or any other suffering.
There are many more questions that you have to ask yourself before taking any further steps after an accident. And once you decide that your negligence was not the reason for your suffering and that you must take action for all the pain and damage you bore, you will need to discuss many things with your slip and fall lawyer before beginning a case.
If you have been thinking about contacting your insurance company about a settlement for your injuries, you would indeed not have to prove yourself in front of them. Still, you will have to be confident about your carefulness to avoid any fault.
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