Some of the most common types of accidents in America are slips, trips and falls. These accidents can occur just about anywhere, but many of these accidents occur in the following locations:
- Shopping malls and retail stores
- Apartment complexes
- Parking garages and lots
- Hotels, motels, and resorts
- Restaurants, bars, and clubs
- Recreational facilities (indoor parks, movie theaters, arcades, gyms, etc.)
Just as these accidents can occur anywhere, they can also occur for a variety of reasons. Here are a few of the most common reasons for slips, trips, and falls:
- Wet or slippery floors: Rain, snow, food and drink spills, cleaning solution, and oil spills can cause walking surfaces to become wet and slippery. Property owners should conduct regular inspections of their property to keep an eye out for wet areas.
- Building code violations: Property owners are required to ensure that their properties comply with building codes. Stairways that have not been properly measured, missing handrails, improper elevator maintenance, cracked ceilings, insufficient lighting, and other building code violations can cause slip-and-falls.
- Uneven flooring: Property owners may fail to properly maintain flooring surfaces, resulting in broken tiles, torn carpeting, sidewalk cracks, and potholes in parking lots.
- Clutter and debris: Many establishments have countless items blocking walkways and taking up floor space, making it difficult for people to get around.
- Victim negligence: Property owners are not always the only ones to blame for slip-and-fall accidents. The victim may have been negligent in failing to pay attention to warning signs, wearing improper footwear and/or loose clothing, or texting and walking.
If you have been injured in a slip-and-fall, you may be able to file a claim against the negligent property owners responsible for your accident. You will need to establish that a dangerous condition on the property caused your accident, and the owners knew or should have known about the hazard. You will also need to show that the owner failed to make reasonable attempts to solve the issue by performing repairs and/or posting warning signs. Finally, you will need to show that the owner’s failure to act caused your accident and injuries.
If you are partially liable for your own slip-and-fall, you may still recover damages under Kentucky’s pure comparative negligence laws. In other words, if you are not fully at fault for the accident, you can still recover damages. The court will reduce your damages based on the percentage of fault attributed to you.