Legal Support: Serious Injury Can Instantly Change Your World
The world can change in a moment
It can happen in an instant. Trip and fall accidents often result in serious injuries precisely because they happen before the victim realizes what is happening.
The accidents can happen in a wide variety of ways. One type of trip and fall occurs when a person is walking on a sidewalk to enter a store. One edge of the sidewalk is raised above an adjoining edge, catching the toes of some pedestrians.
Most of those people will stay upright, adjusting quickly and walking on into the store without further problems. But all it takes is for one person to trip and fall on that unforgiving concrete surface. The result can be broken bones, shattered teeth, serious sprains, bruises, bleeding and more.
If the difference in heights between the two adjoining sidewalk surfaces is one-half inch or more, a trip hazard exists. It is then merely a matter of time before an unfortunate person is injured.
Store owners and managers should know about trip hazards on the properties and take steps to fix them. Those kinds of repairs are simply part of the cost of doing business safely in New York City.
It will matter little to the injury victim if the retailer or apartment owner or other business quickly addresses the problem after an accident has taken place. That quick fix won’t take away the victim’s pain and medical expenses.
Property owners have an obligation to keep their premises safe for customers and other members of the public. If they fail to meet their obligations, injury victims have legal options available that can result in compensation.