Slip And Fall Accident 101

A slip and fall accident is a term used by personal injury and insurance attorneys to describe an incident where a person falls and is injured due to the fault of a property owner. People slip and fall all the time and the question of fault is the important one for deciding whether an accident victim has a claim. In order for a property owner to be responsible for an injury on his property, the owner must owe the injured person a duty, and the owner must breach that duty.

Property Owners Are Liable for Providing a Safe Environment

Property owners such as stores and businesses with customers owe their customers a duty to provide a safe environment. That means that owners must clear sidewalks and floors of debris or hazards. Anything that could cause a person to slip or fall must be removed or clearly marked if it cannot be removed. Everyone has seen a “caution wet floor” sign. Floors must be cleaned in order to provide a safe environment, so if there is a hazard like a wet floor, the hazard must be clearly marked in order to avoid liability for an injury caused by a slip on the wet floor. Anything that can cause a slip or fall must be removed and some common problems are the following:

A broken/spilled container in a store
Raised/sunken cement in sidewalk or step
A newly cleaned floor
Ice and snow in a parking lot or on a sidewalk
A hose or other obstruction left in an area where people walk
A hole in the parking lot or sidewalk
An unmarked step or stairs

Accident Victim Must Prove Fault

After a person falls and is injured, that person will need to prove that the injury would not have occurred if the property owner had taken reasonable measures to get rid of the hazard, or to clearly warn of the hazard. Proving an injury was the fault of the hazard and not the fault of the injured party can be difficult. The injured person carries the burden of proving fault. The injured party may also have to prove the property owner knew there was a hazard and there was a reasonable cure for the hazard but the owner didn’t fix the problem.

Getting Legal Help

There is no fee to consult with an attorney to determine whether you have a case for a slip and fall. There are accidents that happen which are not the fault of the property owner and there is no legal consequence for that. A personal injury attorney can investigate your case and advise you on the likelihood of an award.

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