Slip And Fall Lawyer 

Although slipping and falling is often used in comedies to garner the audience’s laughter, the reality is that slip and fall accidents can result in serious to severe injuries for the victim. These accidents can even be fatal. More than 1 million people end up in emergency room hospitals due to slip and fall accidents.

A slip and fall victim can suffer a brain injury or other type of injury to the head. Many victims end up with fractured bones, dislocated joints, soft tissue injuries, and sprains. A serious slip and fall can cause an injury to the spinal cord that causes paralysis.

While the elderly are especially susceptible to slip and falls, these accidents can happen to anyone. A fall in a grocery store, a fall in a parking lot, a restaurant – they can happen anywhere. But when they do happen, what legal recourse does the victim have for their medical bills, loss of wages, and the pain and suffering their injuries cause.

Slip and Falls in Retail and Other Businesses

Some of the most common locations of slip and fall accidents include:

• Shopping centers
• Grocery stores
• Parking garages
• Restaurants
• Apartment complexes

When a customer falls in a business, the majority of the time the fall is the result of negligence on the part of the business owner and/or employee. The lack of adherence to the duty of care that every property and business owner is required to follow could leave them financially liable for the losses the victim suffers due to the injuries.

Some of the most common types of hazards that result in a customer slipping and falling include the following:

• Slippery or wet floors and other surfaces – When there is a spill on the floor of a store, restaurant, etc., the business owner is responsible for cleaning it up right away. Otherwise, a customer could walk through the spill without seeing it, slip on the liquid, and hit the floor hard. Sometimes floors in a business are just slippery and this can be very dangerous, too. In these situations, the owner needs to take the steps to cover the area to protect customers from injury.

• Poorly lit areas – This is another common cause of slip and fall accidents. Failure to have adequate lighting in foyers, lobbies, hallways, stairways, walkways, and other areas can leave a customer suffering serious injury. Property owners are responsible for not only making sure lighting is installed but that those lights are kept in good working order.

• Tripping dangers – Many businesses have areas where there are frayed rugs, product displays in the way, and other items that can pose great tripping hazards to customers.  

• Loose handrails and/or lose steps – Stairways are some of the most dangerous places for customers/visitors if the property owner has failed to replace loose steps or tighten loose handrails. In most cases, these failures also are non-compliant with municipal building codes.

Anyone who has been injured in a slip and fall accident at a business should contact a slip and fall accident lawyer to find out what legal options they may have against the owner.

Thank you to our friends at Woron and Dhillon, LLC for their insight into slip and fall accidents and slip and fall accident claims.