Every person has likely had a moment where he or she tripped over a raised sidewalk and slipped on a wet floor. In many incidents in California, people are able to recover their balance without significant harm. Unfortunately, some who are the victims of a slip-and-fall accident suffer serious injuries that will impact them for the rest of their lives.
Some falls are simply an accident, caused by the person’s own carelessness. However, there are those that occur as a result of negligence on the part of the property owner or party that manages the property. These falls often arise as a result of changes in flooring, poor lighting, wet floors, torn carpeting or narrow stairs.
In such a case, victims must have suffered some sort of injury and prove that they were not careless in failing to notice the hazard to recover damages as part of civil proceedings. They must also prove that negligence — on the part of a responsible party — caused their injury. To do so, they must show that the defendant either created the hazard, knew the hazard was present or should have known the hazard existed due to the length of time of its presence and should have taken corrective action.
Unfortunately, a person trying to recover from injuries suffered from a slip-and-fall accident may suffer significant financial ramifications as a result of medical bills and lost wages if he or she is unable to work as a result. Because negligent property owners may fail to admit responsibility, victims of such falls may be interested in finding out more about their legal options. A consultation with an California attorney with experience with personal injury lawsuits may give them better insight into the avenues available to them.
