Grocery stores have a rife environment for a slip, trip, and fall injury. With liquids waiting to be spilled and shopping carts in dire need of maintenance, it’s no wonder that personal injury claims are among the most frequent and common liability issues faced by super markets.
Add to this the fact that the average Kansan makes over 2.2 trips to the supermarket every week and it is easy to understand why just everybody who goes to these stores inevitably has some degree of risk of suffering from a slip, trip, and fall injury. If you have already suffered injuries in such a mishap, here is what you need to know.
Can you claim compensation if you are injured in a slip, trip, and fall injury in a grocery store?
The thing about injuries sustained due to a fall is that the victims often assume it was their own fault. While this may be true in some cases, there are often contributing circumstances that may have led to the incident. In fact, slip and fall injuries are frequently a result of risky floor conditions.
As far as an injury compensation claim is concerned, it hinges on the logic that the party who was responsible for creating the situation that eventually led to the mishap and the resultant injuries, CAN be held accountable for the damage.
How much damage can a fall possibly cause?
“If you fall down, you bounce right back up” – Figuratively maybe, but literally, no! Slip and falls are no laughing matter if the below slip and fall quick facts are anything to go by.
- Nearly 17,000 people lose their lives to fall injuries each year all across the country.
- In Kansas, more than 400 deaths every year are attributed to fall injuries.
- Falls are the leading cause of death among all age groups.
- Falls are exceptionally hazardous in the age group of 65 years and above.
- In seniors, falls often lead to hip fractures which severely impacts life quality.
- Slipping is involved in well over 12% of all hospital visits attributed to falls.
- Nearly 1/4th off all fall injuries lead to over 30 days of lost work.
- Falls are a leading cause of traumatic brain injuries.
Nearly 5% of all fall injuries involve fractured bones, and the average cost of recovery frequently goes to the tune of $30,000 or more. So, to answer the question above, falls can cause life altering and life-threatening injuries, and these could happen to just about anybody.
How can you prove that the store owner/management is liable for the injuries you suffered?
Although slip and fall injuries are very common in grocery stores, proving liability can be very complicated. Kansas Law states that the business owner can only be held accountable for the injuries if one of these four conditions are met:
- The risk factor that caused the fall was prevalent inside the store, in the area under store management, or the area that the business is responsible for maintaining when the incident occurred.
- The property/business owner and/or his employees/representatives knew about this dangerous factor or should have known about it.
- The business did nothing to correct/repair, or otherwise get rid of the dangerous factor, that was an obvious risk.
- The dangerous condition was allowed to prevail for such a duration in which the business owner would have discovered the condition.
Of course, all of that sounds fairly straight forward, but how do you go about proving any of it? Let’s not forget that the injury occurred inside the store and you probably spent no more than an hour in there. So, how would you know if the spill was lying there for an hour before you finally came upon it?
In its defense, the store will no doubt suggest that the danger was obvious and your inattentiveness led you to ignore/miss it, or that the incident occurred before they had reasonable time to clean the spill. Needless to say, you won’t know how to counter those arguments.
That’s when a skilled lawyer can save the day for you!
The team of experienced slip and fall attorneys at DeVaughn James Injury Lawyers have heard all those counter claims and know exactly how to shoot them down.
If you have suffered serious injuries due to a slip, trip, or fall incident, you can and should claim compensation for:
- The actual medical costs
- Loss of wages
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of life quality and earning capacity in the future
You should not have to suffer the consequences of the callousness and the negligence of the business owner/store management. We will make sure that you don’t get the short end of the stick.