Premises Liability
Have you been injured while visiting someone else’s property? Could the accident have been prevented if reasonable safety precautions had been in place? Property owners have a duty to provide a safe environment on their premises for patrons and guests. Owners who disregard a hazard and fail to prevent a possible injury can be held responsible.
Slip and Fall
The possible types of premises liability cases are virtually limitless and can exist in just about every kind of building or open space, including homes, apartment buildings, hotels, malls, sports arenas, amusement parks, and parking lots. The most common premises liability claim is a slip and fall case, which refers to injuries that occur after a dangerous condition causes a person to trip or slip and fall while on someone else’s property. Some common conditions that can lead to a slip and fall or a trip and fall are:
- Accumulation of ice or snow
- Crowded aisles
- Defective staircases
- Hidden extension cords
- Loose or broken floors, sidewalks, steps, or stairs
- Poor lighting
- Unsecured rugs or carpets Wet floors.
An unexpected slip and fall can result in head injuries, broken bones, muscle damage, spinal cord damage, and other injuries with long-term consequences.
Swimming Pools
Another common kind of premises liability case is swimming pool accidents. Residential pools pose a huge risk to young children and, by law, must be fenced, whether above-ground or in-ground. A person who leaves their pool open and unguarded may be held responsible if a child is injured, even if the child was a trespasser. All pool owners also have a broad duty to make the pool reasonably safe for anticipated use, and must do a reasonable job of maintenance and repair.
Negligent Security
Property owners have a legal duty to provide adequate security to protect visitors from criminal activity. When property owners breach their duty of care and fail to avoid foreseeable security lapses, innocent people can become victims of assaults, robberies, and other preventable crimes. The victim has the burden of proving that he or she did not know of the negligent security that caused the injury, but that the owner did have that knowledge. Previous criminal activities on and around a property are sufficient to put an owner on notice that there is a safety issue.
Other types of premises liability include:
- Dog bites
- Construction site accidents
- Elevator and escalator accidents
- Snow and ice accidents
- Inadequate maintenance
- Whiplash
- Fires
- Amusement park accidents
- Flooding
- Toxic mold
- Asbestos exposure.
Commercial Property Owners’ Responsibility
Commercial landowners have to provide a safe location for customers and visitors. In order for a business to be held responsible for an injury, it must be shown that the injury was caused by a dangerous condition that the injured person should not have anticipated and that the business knew or should have known of the dangerous condition’s existence. Under the doctrine of comparative negligence, if the injured person was careless in not seeing or not avoiding the hazardous condition, they can still receive compensation, but the amount is reduced by their degree of fault.