Slip-and-Fall Accidents—Know Your Rights

The moment you slip and fall is terrifying. Realizing you’ve lost control of your footing and bracing for the pain about to hit you can cause your body to tense up, making the impact even worse. If you have been injured in a slip-and-fall accident in Southern California, it’s important to know your rights and find out if you’re entitled to compensation.

Falls are incredibly common. The Centers for Disease Control reports that older adults experience about 36 million falls per year, resulting in about 32,000 deaths. About 20% of these falls lead to injury. It’s important to take falls seriously—while your first instinct may be to laugh it off to avoid embarrassment, prompt medical care should be your top priority.

Choosing the right personal injury lawyer for your claim is essential if you want to pursue compensation. The team at Pisegna & Zimmerman has over 60 combined years of experience, and our expansive body of experience in personal injury law gives us the knowledge and dedication needed to tackle your case head-on. We are Zoom-ready and handle document signing over DocuSign, so you never have to come to us. Set up a consultation right away by calling us at 818-888-8888.

How Slip and Fall Accidents Happen

Falls are common, and they can happen to anyone in any setting. In many cases, they’re the result of hazardous conditions that put people in unnecessary danger. A shocking amount of slip-and-fall injuries are entirely preventable. Some of the most common causes of these accidents include:

• Wet surfaces: Freshly cleaned surfaces or spills should be marked with a Wet Floor sign or dried promptly enough to avoid falls.
• Uneven flooring: Uneven, damaged flooring is hard for people to anticipate. As a result, many slips and falls happen when someone stumbles over cracked, ripped, or poorly installed flooring.
• Poor lighting: Areas must be well-lit to make obstacles and fixtures visible. Dead light bulbs, areas with limited lighting, and electrical issues can leave visitors vulnerable to falls.
• Weather hazards: Rain, snow, and other types of inclement weather increase the number of unexpected falls.
• Obstacles: Walkways should be kept clear and easy to navigate for the safety of visitors. When objects begin to pile up, falls are inevitable.
• General safety hazards: If an area does not meet basic safety standards, preventable falls will happen. Stairs should have sturdy, easily accessible handrails. Areas with construction or unexpected obstacles should have warning signs.

Liability in Slip and Fall Cases

Before you can receive any compensation for your slip-and-fall claim, you’ll need to be able to prove liability. In California, you must prove that a property owner was negligent before you can recover damages. Property owners, both residential and commercial, are expected to exercise reasonable care when it comes to keeping their property safe. This includes warning visitors or clients of potential hazards.

What is reasonable care in this situation? It comes down to the specific details of your case, which is why it’s important to talk to a personal injury lawyer promptly after an injury. Consider a spilled drink, for example. If someone spills a drink and walks away without informing anyone, the store does have a duty to clean it up. But if someone immediately slips on the drink before it’s reasonable to expect a store employee to notice, the store may not be considered negligent. But if they leave it to sit indefinitely, that likely would be negligence.

Are You Entitled to Compensation?

If you can prove negligence and have measurable damages, you may be able to recover compensation for your losses. It’s crucial that you document your losses from the very start of your claim so you can hold the liable party accountable. Victims commonly receive compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other accident-related expenses.

What if you are partially to blame for the accident? Perhaps you could have been paying a bit more attention or were too engrossed in your phone. If you are partially to blame, you can still recover compensation. Your award will be reduced proportionately to your share of liability since California is a comparative negligence state.

Start Your Personal Injury Claim With Pisegna & Zimmerman

If you’re ready to start your claim or you’re still not sure whether or not you have a valid case, let’s sit down and talk about your options. Reach out to our personal injury attorneys online or call us at 818-888-8888 to set up a time to talk.