Winter slip-and-fall
New York is a modern urban landscape with sidewalks, parking lots, escalators, and subways. Therefore, accidents happen. A misstep is easy enough, usually resulting in bruised pride and backside. You should know that personal injury (tor) law makes a clear statements about these types of occurrences, called “Slip and Fall Accidents.” If another party fulfilling his/her/its duty could have prevented the incident – spreading salt on a winter sidewalk or keeping clutter out of a public aisle – the grounds may exist for a personal injury case. In such cases, a New York City personal injury attorney is invaluable in assessing the merits of a case.
Slip-and-fall cases may be sees by some as abusive of our legal system, as frivolous, they can in fact be quite serious. These accidents are usually one of four types:
1) trip and fall (foreign object on the walking surface)
2) stump and fall (an obstacle in the walking surface)
3) step and fall (an unanticipated hole in the walking surface)
4) slip and fall (shoes lose grip on the walking surface)
We have each experienced all of these in various forms, from tripping over our own two feet to failing to notice a “Step Up” sign. After each such incident, mostly likely, we got up, brushed off, and carried on. This begs the question, being that these incidents are common, what is the need for legal action? Too often, unfortunately, it is not a matter of “picking ourselves up.” A fall that is only a minor embarrassment to one can mean surgery and weeks or months of recovery for another. Even a minor fall, at the right (wrong) moment can break bones, inflict concussion or back problems, and lead to lost time at work and medical bills.
When falling, the body naturally reacts to catch itself. This is to prevent serious injury by protecting, first and foremost, the head, spine, and internal organs. Instinct extends an arm to break a fall, even though the arm may be injured. In the case of an individual who uses his/her arms for a living, such an injury becomes very significant. Consider a UPS employee: for this individual, an injury which results in a sling or cast entirely prevents him/her from working: unable to drive, let alone arrange, carry, and deliver packages.
An injury such as this, sustained on the job, is largely subject to workman’s comp laws of New York state. Imagine, however, that this UPS employee sustains the injury during off hours, while walking the usual snowy, slippery walkways of a New York winter, shopping, visiting, or just walking. Losing footing and falling on public or private property, perhaps the best-case scenario, the lesser of two evils, is stopping the fall with an arm and avoiding serious injury. This may be at great risk of injury to the hand, wrist, or arm, however, and we have seen how the repercussions of that can be far-reaching for the material handler and family.
And so, what of legal fault in such a case? How do we decide? Is the material handler at fault, perhaps moving in haste or without care? Perhaps it is the property owner, failing to make his/her property as safe as possible for others? It is common for communities to have ordinances requiring citizens and business owners alike to maintain clean and clear sidewalks and pathways for just this reason. Questions of fault, of responsibility, and of damages owed are those to be sorted out by experienced Westchester County personal injury lawyers.
Whether careless, negligent, reckless, or intentional, conduct that causes injury comes under the scope of New York City personal injury law. If you or someone you know has suffered injury resulting from the actions of some one else, the attorneys at The Law Offices of Ginsberg and Broome can share their experience in personal injury law and discuss the possibility of legal action.
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