At Injured CT, our New Britain personal injury lawyers have represented thousands of slip and fall accident victims. If you’ve been injured in a slip and fall, contact an experienced New Britain slip and fall lawyer at Injured CT.
What Are the Most Common Types of Slip and Fall Accidents?
Some of the most common ones involve encountering some type of fluid that has been spilled on the floor. Water from leaky refrigerators or pipes can also be a problem. Sometimes falls are due to structural issues within a building.
Uneven floors or specific areas where the surface used on the floor is crumbling can pose a very real hazard for anyone walking in that area. By the same token, businesses that utilize rugs can put themselves at risk because those rugs often cause people to slip and fall. Stairs that aren’t easily identifiable can also be a problem.
Falls that Occur Outdoors
Of course, slip and fall accidents don’t only happen indoors. The truth is, they happen outdoors more frequently than anywhere else. The cause can be almost anything, ranging from debris in the walking path to sidewalks and other surfaces that are uneven.
Imagine trying to cross the street and stepping directly into a pothole or racing across the sidewalk and hitting a section that is significantly higher or lower than the rest of the surrounding area. All of these things can cause you to fall at a moment’s notice.
Falls from Lighting Issues
Sometimes people fall because an area isn’t well-lit. It doesn’t matter if you’re walking down a sidewalk or through the corridor of a public building, it’s difficult to see exactly where you’re going (or where you’re stepping) if the lighting is inadequate.
Despite the obvious safety hazards that this poses, a surprising number of building owners and municipalities alike prefer to spend their money on virtually anything other than adequate lighting. This poses an immediate risk to personal safety. One of those risks involves slipping and falling on something that has been left in the walkway or an uneven surface, all because it’s virtually impossible to see it beforehand.
More Uncommon Causes of Slip & Falls
You may not think about slipping and falling on an escalator or while getting into or exiting an elevator, but it does happen. By their very nature, escalators can be hazardous. After all, you are being forced to get on and off of a piece of moving equipment that can easily throw you off balance.
Perhaps the biggest risk is that loose-fitting clothing or even shoes can become lodged in the escalator mechanism if you don’t get off of it quickly enough. This can cause you to fall and can also cause significant injury on its own. As far as elevators are concerned, a lot of slip and fall accidents happen when the elevator doesn’t quite line up with the floor where it has stopped.
Again, poor lighting can come into play. If it’s hard to see, it’s more likely that you won’t notice if there is a slight drop off and that can cause you to fall.
How Can a New Britain Slip and Fall Lawyer Help Me With My Case?
It doesn’t matter if you’ve fallen because there was a leak in the roof, someone mopped the floor and failed to put a wet floor sign out or you fell because there was poor lighting, a good New Britain slip and fall lawyer can help you with your case by helping you work within the law to get the compensation you deserve.
The amount of compensation you’re likely to receive will vary depending on a number of factors. For example, were you injured in the fall, and if so, how severe were your injuries? Did you have to miss work as a direct result of your fall? Are you now dealing with chronic pain because of the incident?
All of these things will come into play. The laws can be complicated and much of it will be determined according to whether you are indoors or outdoors. In addition, it must be determined whether or not the person or persons responsible for that particular facility or property were negligent in some way. If so, you could be entitled to additional compensation.
This is precisely why you need an attorney that is well-versed in these types of things to represent you. Otherwise, you could end up with a lot of missed time from work and a lot of medical bills that you’re struggling to pay because you’re not getting the compensation you deserve.
What Can You Do to Help Yourself If You Fall?
What should you do if you fall in a public place? Whether you’re indoors or outdoors, there are some simple steps that you can take that will help us do our job in order to ensure that you do indeed get all of the compensation you deserve.
The first is to take detailed photographs of the area where you fell and all of the surrounding areas. Be sure and document everything carefully. Record exactly what caused you to fall, how you feel, and how you are feeling after the fact.
If you’re inside a building, don’t simply walk away. Find a manager and let them know that you fell. If there are any witnesses that saw you fall, get their information if at all possible. Last but certainly not least, call Emergency Medical Services if you are injured.
Even if you don’t think that your injury is serious, it’s best to let the professionals check you out. This not only ensures that you don’t end up with additional physical problems later on, but it also helps us build a case on your behalf.
Contact a New Britain Slip and Fall Lawyer for a Free Case Review
As previously mentioned, there are many variables involved in any slip-and-fall case. In order for you to win your case, you typically have to be able to prove that the individual in charge of that particular area was negligent and that this negligence was directly tied to your fall.
For example, mopping the floor and not putting a sign-out or leaving a garden hose or something similar lying across the sidewalk. If you fall inside a building or on a public sidewalk or street because of an uneven surface or water on the surface without proper signage, it is possible in most cases for us to build a case for you.
Remember to document everything you can as carefully as possible, get medical attention, and then contact us right away. The sooner we can start working on your case, the sooner we can help you get the compensation you deserve to cover your medical bills or any time that you missed from work.
One of the worst things you can do is simply do nothing. If you fall down because of someone else’s negligence but you don’t document or report it, it’s going to be very difficult to prove that you have a case if you start to have physical issues as a direct result of the fall later on.
Instead, do what you can to document things and then contact Injured CT so we can start working to help you immediately.