If you were hurt, you may be wondering if you are able to file a slip and fall claim. Only a personal injury attorney will be able to tell you for certain. In the meantime, here is what you should know.
File a Slip and Fall Claim | Are Tripping Hazards a Reason to File?
Tripping hazards are a big thing that we see in a lot of our trip and fall cases. Tripping hazards could be a lot of different things. It could be a rug that wasn’t put down properly. It could be a hole in a sidewalk. It could be a piece of strip from a door that became dislodged. It could be a lot of different things. When you see these types of imperfections involving a trip and fall case, you need to make sure that you get somebody out there and get photographs, and get measurements, and stuff like that. Try to interview people: how long was that hole there? How long was that defect in the stair? How long was that railing loose? When you have a defect-related case, there are a lot of things you want to do right off the bat to make sure that you preserve your claim.
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File a Slip and Fall Claim | Can I File for a Faulty Handrail?
Sometimes injuries are caused on staircases by a faulty handrail. They’re not secured properly, the handrail’s too low, or it isn’t graspable. You’ve probably seen these stairways where they have 2x4s or 2x6s as handrails. Well, that’s not good enough. The law requires that you’re able to grasp onto the railing, in case you do stumble, and that it prevents you from falling.
Railings serve a purpose. Railings make sure that if people do happen to stumble on stairs – because people do –handrails are there to make sure that they don’t fall. You have to make sure that that handrail is properly secured, that it’s the right height, and that it’s proper as far as being able to grasp onto.
It’s very important, in these types of cases, to get photographs, measurements, things of that nature. We have code enforcement experts that we use on a regular basis, that get out and get the proper measurements, and then we can look at building codes and property maintenance codes to determine whether or not the owner of the property was in compliance. If they weren’t in compliance, you have a pretty strong case.
If you want an attorney to help you file a slip and fall claim, please call our Hamburg personal injury attorneys today for a free confidential case evaluation.