Shopping, Banking, and running errands are a part of everyone’s daily life. Usually, when someone enters a restaurant, a supermarket, or even an office, their attention is primarily focused on the tasks at hand rather than examining the property for hazards.
But defects, dangers, and hazards do exist and they can cause a person to slip and fall or trip and fall and suffer serious injuries.
These defects, dangers, and hazards come in many forms and can result in sudden injuries when we least expect it. The danger could be water on the floor that was not visible. An entrance may have a hazardous broken stair that gives way. A business owner may not have sanded or salted patches of ice in its parking lot. In any of these situations, the slip and fall or trip and fall occurs in the blink of an eye and ends with someone unexpectedly injured.
At The Carrano Law Firm in Cheshire, Connecticut, we represent people who have been injured due to hazardous or unreasonably dangerous conditions on other people’s properties. These types of injuries are often referred to as “premises liability injuries” or “slip and fall injuries.” It is important for anyone who suffers an injury of this type to contact an attorney as soon as possible so that evidence can be gathered and an investigation can be started.
Just Because You Fell Does Not Necessarily Mean The Premises Owner Is Responsible for Your Injuries:
There is no liability on the part of a property owner merely because an injury occurred on their property. There are numerous factors under Connecticut state law that are considered when making that determination, including the reason behind the injury and the nature of the injured party’s presence on the premises.
As an example, we can use a common scenario such as when a person slips on water inside a grocery store. In order to establish the store’s liability for the incident we would need to investigate the following issues:
- Where did the water come from?
- How long was it there?
- Did an employee know about it?
- Should an employee have noticed the water during a routine inspection?
- All of these questions matter.
Likewise, if a person trips as a result of a broken step outside of a building, a thorough investigation would be needed to assess how long the step had been broken and whether or not there was a reasonable opportunity to repair the step before the incident happened.
Every slip and fall accident or premises liability injury is different and requires a case-specific investigation and analysis.
Sometimes More Than One Company Is Involved
People often assume that the person who owns a building is the one responsible for keeping it safe.
That is not always how it works.
A shopping plaza might have one company that owns the property, another that manages it, and a separate company hired to handle maintenance.
If someone falls in the parking lot, figuring out who was responsible for that area can take some investigation. Making this determination requires a full review of contract and lease language, the conduct and actions of the companies involved, and the information contained in maintenance records.
The same type of analysis would be necessary for an injury occurring at an apartment complex, office building, or other commercial property.
At The Carrano Law Firm, we thoroughly investigate every slip and fall accident or premises liability injury to explore all avenues of recovery for our injured clients.
The Problem With Waiting Too Long:
Crucial evidence can disappear. It is important to start the documentation and investigation as soon as possible.
As an example, a slippery floor in a store can be cleaned up and customers will continue shopping within minutes of the incident, leaving no evidence of the hazard that caused the slip and fall accident. It is important to remember that even in situations where security cameras may have recorded the accident or injury, most recording systems do not retain video indefinitely.
However, if an investigation is started promptly, the security video of the slip and fall or trip and fall accident can be preserved before the video is destroyed or over-written.
Similarly, after an injury from a broken handrail, the property owner may arrange to have it repaired. While repairs are a positive thing, because the best way to prevent further injuries is to remove or repair the defect or hazard, generally, a repair of a defective condition, or a “subsequent remedial measure,” cannot be used as proof of negligence in court. Having prompt legal representation is the best way to preserve the evidence of what caused the injury before the evidence is gone forever.
Without video or photographs or other records showing what the area looked like when the accident happened, it will be difficult to prove who and what caused the injury.
Therefore, every slip and fall accident, trip and fall accident, or premises liability injury should be documented and investigated as quickly as possible.
Connecticut Winters Bring Their Own Problems
Anyone who has spent a significant amount of time in Connecticut knows that winter weather in Connecticut can be unpredictable.
It may rain during the day and then freeze at night, resulting in an icy parking lot the following morning. This is especially dangerous because accumulations of ice on pavement often take the form of “black ice” and are not easily noticed. Snow and ice on the surface of walkways, parking lots, driveways, and stairs frequently cause slip and fall accidents and often result in serious injuries.
However, there are a lot of variables to consider when determining whether there is liability when it comes to a slip and fall accident caused by snow or ice. For example, did the ice form overnight? Had it been there for several days? Was someone responsible for treating the area with salt or sand? Was a storm still in progress when the accident happened?
These are some of the questions that may need to be answered.
Connecticut has specific legal rules involving snow and ice accidents. The ability to successfully establish liability for a snow and ice slip and fall accident will depend on certain factors such as the occurrence of the weather in relation to the obligations of the parties involved.
A Fall Can Result in Serious Injuries. Take a Breath. Report the Situation.
A fall can be embarrassing. Some people get up quickly and want to leave the premises immediately because they do not want anyone to make a fuss over them.
We have all felt that sense of embarrassment and the feeling of wanting to high-tail it out of a place. But what if you are seriously injured? Do you know at this single moment what impact this fall is going to have on you? STOP. Take a breath. Assess the situation, and at the very least, make a report.
You do not want to be in a situation where you end up finding out later on that the fall caused you to sustain a broken wrist, torn rotator cuff or ACL, or a herniated disc that is going to require surgery to repair… and you never even reported having fallen.
A Couple of Things You Should Remember After a Fall
Get help if you have sustained injuries. Your well-being should come first above anything else.
If you were injured while in a store, restaurant, or any other business or residential premises, make sure you report to the responsible party.
Take photographs of the incident if you can before anything changes. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Make sure you obtain the contact information of any witness who saw the fall.
The Carrano Law Firm is Ready to Conduct a Thorough Investigation
At The Carrano Law Firm, the only thing we do is represent people who have been injured in accidents. We are not a general practice law firm.
We represent clients in slip-and-fall and trip and fall claims and lawsuits stemming from hazards such as wet floors, defective stairs, cracked or heaving sidewalks, parking lot potholes, loose railings, ice-covered parking lots, falling merchandise, and other unsafe property conditions.
Our firm represents injured people in Cheshire and throughout Connecticut.
If you or someone in your family has been injured in a slip and fall accident, contact The Carrano Law Firm, LLC. We can discuss what happened, answer your questions, and help you understand if you have a potential personal injury claim.
This article is for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. Every case depends on its individual facts and circumstances.