How to Determine the Liable Party in a Slip and Fall Accident

Taking its legal definition, slip and fall is referred to as any personal injury incident in which an individual slips or trips and falls, and eventually sustain injury on someone else’s premises. This case is a simplified version of the wide category of premises liability because slip and fall mishaps happen on a property owned or maintained by someone else, and the owner may be held legally liable.

Anyone can stumble upon a slip and fall accident. The following can be the cause.

• Poor lighting
• Wet floor
• Torn carpet
• Narrow stairs
• Changes in the flooring
• Uneven pavements
• Curled edges of carpet and/or door mat

Also, a slip and fall can be considered if somebody trips on a broken or cracked public area like the sidewalk, or trips and falls on stairs or escalators. Meanwhile, environmental factors can also contribute. These are:

• Snow
• Ice
• Rain
• Pothole
• Debris

Proving Responsibility in Slip and Fall Incidents

A slip and fall case is one of the rigid personal injury cases because there is no exact way to determine who really is liable. Evidences can also be difficult to trace since the cause can be as petty as any form of spilled liquid.

In a lot of cases, an individual injured in a slip and fall on someone else’s premises must prove that the reason of the mishap was a dangerous condition, and that the owner of the premises has knowledge of such condition.

A dangerous condition must be able to bring an unreasonable hazard to a person on the property, and it must have been a condition that the injured party should not have expected as regards the situation. In this circumstance, the requirement implies that people have to aware of, and shun away from apparent dangers.

How to Identify that the Owner Knows the Dangerous Condition

The following must be established:

• The premises owner created the condition.
• The premises owner has the knowledge that the condition existed and negligently failed to make necessary acts to correct it.
• The dangerous condition existed for a long period of time that the premises owner should have known and corrected it before the slip and fall accident happened.

The need to obtain a lawyer’s help is necessary since the complex nature of various legal matters is fairly difficult to grasp and comprehend. Hire a premises liability lawyer in the event that you encounter a slip and fall accident