How Personal Injury Lawyers Assess Slip and Fall Injuries

| Tuesday, October 18, 2011
By Adriana Noton


Ontario, Canada is known for its tough winters due to cold temperatures, snowstorms, and ice pellet storms. This harsh weather can cause all sorts of hazardous conditions when people are out walking. During the winter, many people will suffer injuries because of icy and slippery walkways. Injuries that are often sustained from a slip and fall include back, leg, head, wrists, and arm injuries. The result can be broken bones and head trauma. Although pedestrians have responsibilities to take care when walking, sometimes an injury can occur if a property owner, business owner, or local government fails to provide safe walking conditions. In such instances, a party can be held negligent for an injury. In this situation, a personal injury victim has the right to seek damages for the injuries they sustained. Hiring a personal injury Toronto law firm is essential to achieving fair compensation.

Just because a person slips and falls on private property, it does not always mean the property owner is liable. However, property owners do have to take reasonable action to prevent an injury, especially if it is property that the public uses on a daily basis. Personal injury lawyers have the expertise in determining if a property owner failed to provide a reasonable standard of care to warn or prevent someone from slipping and falling. The property owner does not have to keep the property in pristine condition but some action must be taken if they know a spot could cause injury.

Regarding slip and fall cases, a personal injury lawyer will determine if the property owner should have plowed, salted or added sand, or shoveled the spot where the injury occurred. The lawyer will determine if the property owner took reasonable steps to prevent an injury which can include posting a sign warning of slippery conditions. Reasonable care can vary from case to case. For instance, a business owner failing to clear out ice from the entrance to their store may be held liable for not taking action to prevent the slip and fall. If a person slips and falls on a small patch of ice in a parking lot that was for the most part completely clear, it could be argued that the person did not take reasonable care when walking so they would avoid the very small patch of ice. The personal injury lawyer assesses the level of maintenance and inspection that should have been taken for each particular case.

Other factors that are taken into considered when assessing a slip and fall case include: whether the injury occurred at night or during the day, if the area had enough lighting, if the injured person was running or walking really fast, type of footwear the injured person was wearing, and if the person was carrying something that blocked their view preventing them from seeing the slippery area. The lawyer has to determine if the injured person practiced their own reasonable standard of care when the injury occurred.

The exact amount an injured person can be awarded will vary from case to case. The extent of the injury and how much the person practiced a reasonable standard of care are two factors considered when determining an amount. In addition, in Canada, there is a cap on the amount that can be awarded for pain and suffering. When suffering a personal injury, it is important to contact a Toronto personal injury lawyer as soon as possible as there is a time limit on how long one has to file a personal injury claim Toronto.




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1 comments:

StephaniePumphrey said...

There are a lot of people that are looking for a good lawyer in their area. They may not know what to look for or who it is that they should talk to in order to find something that will work for them. It's not as hard as they may think and it may even be one of the easier things that they do.

www.toronto-slip-and-fall-lawyers.ca

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