In New York City, stairways are commonly found in most buildings. Slips, trips and falls happen frequently on stairways – whether located in an apartment complex or in a mall or an office building, etc. Such falls from stairs may lead to serious injuries or even death. Unlike tripping on a level surface, losing your balance and falling down a staircase can be violent because it’s a bumpy surface, often with hard or sharp edges. It is important that property owners and managers take the necessary steps to protect residents, visitors and guests from slip, trip and fall hazards.
People fall down stairways for a number of reasons. It is possible to slip and fall or trip and fall down a flight of stairs when you are climbing up or coming down a flight of stairs. Here are four things you should know about stairway accidents.
1. Stairway accidents may be caused by inadequate handrails.
Whether a staircase is located indoors or outdoors, it should be equipped with proper handrails. Ideally, a staircase should have handles on both sides. Handrails must be designed in such a way that they help people maintain balance when walking up or down the staircase. When handrails are broken or in a state of disrepair, there is an increased risk of a person losing his or her balance and falling down.
2. Slippery stairs often cause slip-and-fall accidents on stairways.
When liquids are spilled on stairways, there is more of a likelihood that someone may slip and fall. When stairways are located outdoors, snow or ice may accumulate on steps and pose a slip and fall hazard. Rainwater may also make stairs slippery. Indoors or in parking structures, for example, steps may have water or other liquids such as urine or spilled coffee or soda on them that may cause someone to slip, fall and suffer major injuries.
In these types of incidents, again, it is the responsibility of the property owner and/or manager to make sure the steps are cleaned regularly and promptly to avoid hazardous conditions. They also have the responsibility to put orange cones or signs to alert visitors that there is spilled liquid on the stairs if they haven’t had a chance to clean it up yet. Also, the area should be cordoned off. Failure to warn of such dangers is also negligence (carelessness.)
3. Poor lighting can make stairways dangerous.
When there is inadequate lighting near stairways, there is a heightened risk of someone not being able to see properly and suffer a fall as a result. In some cases, property owners or managers fail to install adequate lighting and in others, they fail to repair broken lights, leading to stairway accidents. Lack of lighting can also stem from design flaws in how a property is laid out or planned out. For example, a stairwell in a parking lot or parking structure may not be properly illuminated because it might have been designed and constructed with an inadequate number of light sources.
4. Debris on stairways can result in trip and fall accidents.
When debris such as garbage, bottles or other items are left on stairs, those walking up or down may not see them in time to avoid a trip-and-fall or slip-and-fall accident. Once again, it is the responsibility of the property owner and manager to make sure that stairways are free of any kind of debris that may pose a slip-and-fall or trip-and-fall hazard.
Contacting an Experienced Lawyer
If you were involved in a slip-and-fall or a trip-and-fall accident as a result of someone else’s negligence (carelessness), please remember that you have rights. Some of the damages that victims of such accidents can claim include, but are not limited to, medical expenses, loss of wages and benefits, cost of hospitalization, surgery, physical therapy, past and future pain and suffering, permanent injury, etc.
The experienced New York personal injury attorneys with the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can help you better understand your legal rights and options and also fight hard to recover just compensation for you. For over 49 years, our skilled attorneys have established a proven track record of helping injured victims.
Our law firm recovered $1,700,000 for a woman who slipped and fell and received no hospital or medical treatment for one month after the accident. Our law firm also recently recovered $5,600,000 for a bicyclist who was hit by a van, and $2,550,000 for another victim of a truck accident, and $3,000,000 for a pedestrian who was hit by a car, and the full $1,000,000 insurance policy for a pedestrian who was hit by a truck, and $4,625,000 for a driver who was in a car and was hit by a van, and $2,500,000 for a man who fell through an improperly secured hole. Also, one of our clients obtained a verdict for $43,940,000 and another of our clients got a verdict for $23,500,000, both in medical malpractice cases.
Please contact us TOLL FREE 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). WE CAN EVEN COME TO YOU. There is no attorneys’ fee unless we recover money for you. We can also help with personal injury and medical malpractice cases in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
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