What Conditions Can Lead to a Slip and Fall in Prince George’s County, Maryland?
Slip and fall accidents can occur anywhere, whether it is in your own home, visiting someone else’s house, walking down the street, picking up groceries, or more. As winter approaches, weather conditions can make slip and falls even more likely as snow and ice can cause you to fall without warning.
Slip and fall cases fall under premises liability claims, and they often involve multiple parties and complex legal theories. This is why you need a Prince George’s county personal injury lawyer to help you with your Maryland premises liability claim. Otherwise you may not be pursuing the right parties, or large companies might try to intimidate you into dropping the claim or offer you an insultingly low amount.
What can Cause a Slip and Fall?
There are numerous possible causes of slip and fall accidents. Some conditions that lead to indoor slip and fall accidents include:
- Uneven floor treatment
- Defective stairs
- Hazard on the floor
- Broken handrail
- Liquid or water on floor
- Torn carpet
- No hazard warning for dangerous surface
- Failure to install non-skid treatments
- Snow or rain tracked inside store
Outside, there are also potential hazards that can cause you to slip and fall. Maybe a business has not maintained its parking lots and/or sidewalks. Maybe there are a lot of potholes and the store has no exterior lighting.
Who is Liable for Slip and Fall Accidents?
Liability for a slip and fall accident in Maryland will vary based on individual circumstances and where the accident occurred. When a property owner breaches his or her responsibility to keep the premises safe and you fall, he or she could be held liable. In some cases, the owner and the tenant may be held liable.
Store employees have to clean aisles and look for hazards. If a grocery store cleaned an aisle two minutes before someone came along and spilled something, then they may not have been negligent in failing to check that aisle for spills so soon. However, if video surveillance shows that something was spilled and sat in a grocery store aisle for two hours without being cleaned, then the store should have known of the hazard, and may be held liable if someone slips in it and becomes injured. If it has been raining or snowing all day, and the store employees are not cleaning the entryway or putting up “caution wet floor” signs, they could be held liable for resulting slip and fall injuries.
Any number of incidents can lead to a premises liability claim, and getting the responsible parties to accept responsibility is a legal battle you should not go through alone. Slip and falls account for a number of emergency room visits each year. The older you get, the more likely it is that a slip and fall will result in serious injuries. While most people think of older people when it comes to slip and falls, the truth is that younger people are just as much at risk of injury.
Contact a Maryland Premises Liability Attorney
If you or a loved one was injured in a slip and fall in Prince George’s County, you need the best Maryland personal injury attorney on your side. Contact the Law Office of Robert R. Castro today at 301-870-1200 to schedule an initial consultation.
