People tend to underestimate slip and fall accidents until they happen to them or someone they love. The reality is sobering. A fact sheet from the National Floor Safety Institute reports that slips and falls account for more than a million emergency room visits each year, and that falls are the second leading cause of traumatic brain injuries among people older than 65. The Mayo Clinic reinforces the point, explaining that falls from a bed or ladder, down stairs, in the bath, and elsewhere are the most common cause of traumatic brain injury overall, particularly among older adults and young children.
If someone else's negligence causes one of these falls, a Virginia Beach personal injury lawyer from Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp can help the injured person hold the responsible party accountable. Understanding how these injuries happen and when a property owner is legally responsible is the first step toward protecting your rights.
The Many Ways These Injuries Happen
Everyday hazards carry real danger. Wet floors, uneven pavement, broken stairs, and nursing home neglect all put people at risk of a traumatic brain injury, along with skull fractures, concussions, broken bones, neck and shoulder injuries, spinal injuries, and sprains.
These falls happen in every setting imaginable. Many occur on the job, when workers are hurt in workplace accidents. Others happen while people shop, dine at restaurants, or visit a public park or community pool. Still others take place in rental homes, hotel rooms, and even friends' houses. The common thread is that the hazard was often something the property owner could have fixed or warned about.
Why a Short Fall Can Be So Serious
There is a dangerous misconception that a fall has to be dramatic to be harmful. That is simply not true. A person does not need to fall from any great height to suffer disabling or even fatal injuries. The National Floor Safety Institute notes that most fall injuries in the home happen at ground level, not from an elevation. Something as ordinary as loose carpeting or a slick tile floor can prove life-altering.
Head and brain injuries are among the worst outcomes. A victim may struggle for months or longer with headaches, nausea, problems with balance, difficulty with memory and focus, and troubling changes in mood. In the most serious cases, a traumatic brain injury victim never fully recovers and requires medical care and help with daily activities for the rest of their life. What looked like a minor slip in a store aisle can change a family's entire future.
Premises Liability: When a Property Owner Is Responsible
When a slip and fall results from the negligence of a business owner, a public agency, or another person, the injured victim can file insurance claims or a lawsuit under a legal concept called premises liability. The principle behind it is straightforward. Property owners and the people who occupy property have a legal duty to protect the health and safety of those who visit. When a preventable accident occurs because the owner ignored that duty, the owner can be held liable for medical bills and other compensation.
Proving a premises liability claim, however, can be difficult. An injured person generally must show several things:
- The property owner or occupant owed a duty of care to the visitor
- A hazardous condition existed on the property
- The owner knew, or reasonably should have known, about the hazard and failed to fix it or warn of it
- That hazard actually caused the fall and the resulting injuries
That third element is often where these cases are won or lost. Establishing that a store, for instance, knew about a spill and did nothing about it, or should have discovered it through reasonable inspection, frequently requires prompt investigation. Evidence such as surveillance footage, incident reports, maintenance records, and witness statements can disappear quickly, which is one reason acting promptly matters so much.
How We Approach These Cases
Because premises liability claims turn so heavily on proving what the property owner knew and did, the investigative work behind them is central to a good outcome. Our approach focuses on securing evidence before it is lost, documenting the full extent of a client's injuries, and countering the arguments property owners and their insurers reliably raise, including claims that the victim was careless or that the hazard was obvious.
That effort produces results. In one matter, we secured a $525,000 mediation settlement for a client who suffered a traumatic brain injury along with shoulder and spinal injuries. Results depend on the specific facts of each case, but an outcome like that reflects the care we bring to proving both liability and the full extent of a client's harm.
Injured in a Slip and Fall? Contact Us Today
If you or a loved one has been injured in a slip and fall caused by a property owner's negligence, a Virginia Beach personal injury lawyer at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp can review what happened, determine whether premises liability applies, and pursue the full compensation you may be owed. Contact us at 833-997-1774 for a free consultation with one of our dedicated Virginia Beach personal injury lawyers. We have offices in Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Norfolk, and Chesapeake, and we are ready to put our experience to work for you and your family.
