When it comes to slips and falls, these accidents clearly seem a lot less damaging and harmful than they are in reality. Did you know that there are reported cases of death as a result of a slip and fall accident? There are numerous cases of traumatic brain injuries and very harmful spinal cord ones as well. These are things that you need to take into very serious consideration when it comes to it because failing to do so could truly get you in trouble.
However, when it comes to slip and fall accidents, it’s usually a loose carpet, a cluttered walkway, wet surface, poor lighting or uneven stairs which cause them, right? In these cases, the responsibility which entails maintenance and repair of the premises would fall within the owner and also with the tenants of the premise, should there be some. The carelessness to ensure the safety of those who pass through your premise is legal grounds for a lawsuit and that’s something that you should definitively account for.
Nevertheless, though, winter time is the period during which there are far more reported slip and fall cases in comparison to any other. And, of course, the reason for this is quite simple – frozen walkways. With this being said, there are quite a few things that you might want to account here as it’s obvious that there is no owner or tenant to be held responsible.
In reality, the responsibility to maintain the walkways which are not located right in front of a store or other venue, for instance, falls within the municipality. It’s required to maintain the safe walking conditions. If they fail to do so, the city itself could easily be filed against for negligence. There are certain cities such as Toronto, for instance, which are capable of passing bylaws which require homeowners and storeowners to clean those sidewalks. This is when filing a case of the kind could actually become rather challenging. With this in mind, it is important to understand that there are certain extents to which the homeowners and the storeowners could be obliged to clean the snow. This is usually right up the end of the alley or the path in front of their property. You might need to discuss your particular case with an expert injury lawyer to get the nitty-gritty on the claim. That will help you evaluate your own requirements and the whether the claim will hold in court.
There is some reason behind these bylaws as its intention is to clearly reduce the accidents by involving the entire community. Whether or not this should alleviate the fault of the municipality, however, is something particularly different. However, you should make sure that you check the entire case thoroughly and hire a personal injury lawyer to help you out as quickly as it is possible to ensure that all is handled professionally.