Slip and Fall Accidents: Negligence or Carelessness?

by Kristen White Blogger In a previous article, personal injury was said to cover various aspects of how an injury was sustained. Some of the different ways injuries are sustained are from slip or trip and fall accidents, motorcycle accidents, nursing home abuse, railroad accidents, train accidents as well as car accidents in Anchorage. With respect to slip and fall accidents, it is said that when determining whether a property owner or occupier is at fault, three elements are key determining factors:

• The owner of the premises or the employee must have caused the spill, worn or torn spot or other slippery or dangerous surface
• The owner of the premises or the employee must have known of the dangerous surface and done nothing about it
• The owner of the premises or the employee should have known of the dangerous surface because a reasonable person taking care of the property would have discovered and removed or repaired it.

The most common situation is the third one, however, the question of reasonableness on the part of the owner comes under scrutiny by the law. This article will discuss questions in respect of the reasonableness of property owner regarding the slip and fall injury claim relating to the slip or trip and fall accident. Any negligence claim is most likely to be premised on whether the defendant acted reasonably or not. To determine the property owner’s reasonableness, the law focuses on whether the owner makes the keeping the property clean and safe a regular feature. In order to determine the liability of the property owner, below are some questions you can ask;

• If you tripped on a torn, broken or bulging area of a carpet, floor or ground, or slipped on a wet or loose area, had the dangerous spot been there long enough for the owner to have known about it
• If you tripped over or slipped on an object someone had placed or left on or in the floor or ground, was there a legitimate reason for the object to be there?
• If there once was a good reason for the object to be there, but the reason no longer exists, should the object have been removed, covered or made safe?
• Could a simple barrier have been made or warning sign been given or put up to stop people from slipping or tripping? (e.g. a wet floor sign)

Further, to see if your own carelessness may have been the cause of your slip and fall accident, you can ask yourself the following questions;

• Did I have a legitimate or good reason (a reason the owner should have expected or anticipated) for being where the dangerous area was?
• Would a careful person have noticed the dangerous spot or area and avoided it or walked carefully enough not to slip and fall?
• Were there any warning signs at the spot showing that it might be dangerous that I may have missed?
• Was I paying attention when I reached the dangerous spot or area?

If you are involved in a slip and fall accident, find a personal injury lawyer to give you advice on your case.

For more information regarding slip and fall accidents, the author recommends visiting Crowsonlaw.Com.

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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.

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