If you suffered a slip and fall injury, you may be entitled to some sort of compensation for your injuries. If you have suffered a fall on another persons property, they may be liable for your injuries and they may be required to compensate you as a result.
Some of the common scenarios where slip and fall injuries have occurred include
- Adverse weather conditions (for example, ice, snow, or rain)
- Uneven sidewalks
- Potholes
- Poorly lit or unmarked pathways or stairs
- Slippery tiling
- Unbalanced flooring
- Rippled carpet
- Obstructions on the floor or walkway
Types of Slip and Fall Injury
Typical injuries resulting from slip-and-fall accidents range in severity from minor to life threatening. A victim may sustain bruises, broken bones, and scrapes that require minimal medical treatment and heal relatively quickly. Other victims suffer extreme personal injury – spinal cord injuries, brain damage – that causes permanent damage and requires ongoing medical care.
Obviously any compensation would match the severity of the injuries. Although the words “slip and fall” may bring to mind a slippy floor, this term actually encompasses all type of premises liability cases. When poorly maintained grounds or buildings, improperly stacked items, or other unmarked hazards result in injury, the party responsible for the premises can be held accountable to the injured person.
Why do slip and fall accidents occur
Why are there so many falls? In part, it is because we fail to understand the complexity of same-surface slip-and-fall accidents. We assume that people fall because the floor is slick, because they are clumsy or careless, or because they step on a foreign object. These assumptions lead to investigations that are one-dimensional and to repeated accidents at the same location. But people can fall for numerous reasons. Reasons include the interaction of the walking surface with shoes; the environment, along with its distractions; and the physical and mental limitations of the victim
Kinds of Falls
Same-surface falls can be classified into four categories:
1. Trip and fall accidents, in which pedestrians encounter a foreign object and fall over it
2. Stump and fall accidents, in which a moving foot encounters an impediment in the walking surface.
3. Step and fall accidents, in which the foot finds an unexpected failure or hole in the walking surface.
4. Slip and fall accidents, in which the interface of the shoe and the floor fails to support the walker’s center of gravity over the base area.
If you think you have sustained a slip and fall injury which was not your fault and was caused by negligence of the owner of the property where the fall occurred, you may be entitled to compensation for that fall, you should seek the advice of a personal injury attorney.
