What Are the Main Causes of a Slip and Fall Accident?

Bill Allen | August 11, 2017 | Slip & Fall Accidents

Slip and falls are one of the most common accident types, resulting in many emergency room visits each year. When you’re involved in a slip and fall, you can suffer from minor injuries like bruises and scrapes as well as major injuries, such as broken bones or injuries that require surgery. To better understand what causes these types of accidents, we discuss the top reasons they happen.

WEATHER
When it’s raining, snowing, or sleeting outside, these conditions can effect the floors inside a business. Florida weather can also cause additional hazardous ground conditions when high winds cause more than normal ground debris. Property and business owners have a duty to keep a premises safe. Whether it’s a slippery floor, or a common used ground full of debris, the owner or landlord needs to be placed on notice of this hazardous condition.

POOR MAINTENANCE/UPKEEP
Business and property owners have a duty to keep aisles and walkways free and clear of anything that can cause an injury. A prudent property or business owner is aware of the condition of his premises, and depending on the visibility, should employ practices that allow them to keep it safe, such as a scheduled walk-through by himself or his employees.

Finally, slip and fall injuries can even occur when a hazardous condition is in plain sight, and we have seen the insurance companies argue that the hazard should have been seen by the injured person in time to avoid it. The measure is often referred to as what the “prudent person” would do, and adjusters often ask questions about whether the injured person wasn’t wearing their glasses like they were supposed to, took medication that made them dizzy, or even asking if they were carrying something that hindered normal eyesight when they fell. These issues are called “mitigators”, and are often used by the adjusters to attempt to transfer negligence, or fault, to the injured person in order to pay less for the claim. That’s why having an experienced attorney is so important.

Contact Our Personal Injury Law Firm in North Central Florida

If you need legal assistance, contact the Gainesville personal injury lawyers at Allen Law Firm at your nearest location to schedule a free consultation today.

We have two convenient locations in North Central Florida:

Allen Law Firm, P.A. – Gainesville office
2550 SW 76th St #150
Gainesville, FL 32608
(877) 255-3652

Allen Law Firm, P.A. – Ocala Office
112 S Pine Ave
Ocala, FL 34471
(352) 351-3258