Slip and Fall

A “slip and fall” incident, also known as a “trip and fall,” is a type of personal injury that occurs when someone slips, trips, or falls because of a dangerous or hazardous condition on someone else’s property. Slip and fall incidents in Broward County are common occurrences. Approximately 95% of slip and fall cases are settled out of court. 

Slip and fall incidents concerning elders

Fall related injuries are of serious concern to elderly individuals because the risk for significant injury is much higher. Many people age 65 and older are treated in emergency rooms or are hospitalized after a slip and fall injury.

Causes of a slip and fall injuries include:

• Abrupt and unmarked changes in flooring
• Poor lighting
• A hidden hazard, such as a gap or difficult to see hole in the ground
• Water or ice on flooring
• Water inside front doors following rain
• Rugs not secured
• Broken bottles on the floor
• Parking lots with broken bumper stops that have re-bar sticking out
• Sidewalks that were not brushed when the cement was wet causing them to be too slippery
• Stair cases that do not have non slip strips

Liability in a slip and fall case

If you injure yourself due to a hazardous condition while on someone else’s property, it is possible that the owner of that property may be held responsible for your damages. Conversely, if you are the owner of a property and someone injuries himself on your property, you may be legally responsible for those injuries. Property owners, including grocery stores, supermarkets, restaurants, gas stations, hotels, department stores and even condominiums, have a legal duty to provide a safe environment for anyone who comes onto their property. These parties are responsible for ensuring that their property is free from hazardous conditions, and for making sure that the general public is aware of any dangerous conditions that may exist.

A knowledgeable slip and fall attorney can locate the owners of any given property by checking the appropriate government records, including tax rolls and corporate filings. Some owners and operators who bear responsibility for your slip and fall may not be easy to locate. They may include service providers such as concessionaires, janitorial companies, franchisors and parent corporations. They may also include government entities. A slip and fall at a public school, for example, may impose liability on a local governmental body, whereas a slip and fall at a post office would implicate the federal government.  However, if a governmental agency is involved, its liability may be limited by Florida law. 

When involved in a slip and fall accident, there are various types of injuries that may be sustained, at varying degrees of severity. A person may suffer from broken bones, including lower leg injuries and facial fractures, back or spinal cord injuries, permanent disability, brain injuries, paralysis, internal bleeding and more. The type of injury and the degree of severity depends on many physical and biological factors that are present during the accident such as height of the fall, position at landing, impact on surface, and the physical condition of the person who was injured. Within each of these factors are other items that impact the severity of the injury from a slip and fall accident.  When evaluating a case, an experienced personal injury attorney will consider these items to determine the negligence of a business or property owner, and determining negligence, if any, of the individual injured.

Would You Like to Know More?

If you have been injured in a slip and fall accident or own a property on which someone has been injured in a slip and fall accident, you should consult with a Broward County lawyer as soon as possible. An experienced personal injury lawyer will assist you in the complex legal process and help you to better understand your rights and remedies.