Arizona slip and falls are just as common as car accidents. The way victims need to prove the at-fault party is negligent is a bit different compared to car accidents. Our Esquire Law slip and fall attorneys are skilled in providing great legal advice during their free consultation. Arizona slip and fall injuries typically happen when a property owner is negligent about a dangerous condition that needs to be fixed or if a hazard was left there that could cause someone to trip and fall.
Types of Arizona Slip and Fall Hazards
Identifying potential slip and fall hazards is important if you ever find yourself a victim due to someone’s negligence. Slip and fall accidents can occur from:
- Protruding objects
- Holes in flooring
- Cracks in flooring
- Failure to clean up spilled food or drinks
- Recently mopped or waxed floors with no signage present
- Electrical cords across walkways
- Uneven flooring or pavement inside or outside
- Loose or wobbly stairs
- Stairs without handrails or loose handrails
- Loose pavement in a parking lot or sidewalk
- Loose floormats or other loose flooring material on walkways
Any of these instances can be avoided if the proper care was taken place. If the property owner failed to remove or identify the hazard with signage and someone slipped and fell, they can be proved negligent for any injuries. Common injuries that come from slip and fall accidents are broken hips and pelvic bones, back and spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, neck injuries, and any wrist, arm, or ankle fractures.
If you are a victim of a slip and fall accident it is essential to go see a doctor to be assessed. Many Arizona slip and fall victims mistake their injuries as just soreness and bruising, when in fact they can be much more severe.
How to Prove Negligence and Liability
There are four steps to help show that the property owner is negligent for your injuries in an Arizona slip and fall accident.
- Duty
- Proving that the defendant owed you a duty of care, meaning that the defendant is held responsible for making the area safe for others.
- If a grocery store has wet floors and there should be wet floor signage to identify the hazard as the owner/employees have a protocol to follow.
- Breach
- Proving that the defendant breached the duty of care.
- If you slip and fall in the grocery store because there was no signage to identify the wet floor, the grocery store can be found negligent for this act.
- Causation
- Proving that the injuries sustained were directly related to the defendant’s breach.
- After the slip and fall, you might have sustained injuries. Going to the doctors to be assessed for these injuries can help prove the relation to the grocery store’s negligence.
- Damages
- Proving that injuries were indeed sustained from the accident.
- Using the medical documentation after seeking an examination will help a victim win a slip and fall accident case.
Since Arizona uses pure comparative fault, which means the amount of damages a plaintiff can receive from a personal injury case can be reduced by the percentage they are found at fault. This is why it is important to have an Arizona injury lawyer to help with slip and fall cases. Keep in mind that the statute of limitations for Arizona is only two years for personal injury claims.
Our Esquire Law injury attorneys will be able to use evidence gathered to prove that the property owner was negligent for your injuries. The evidence that should be gathered after the accident is photos of the area where the slip and fall occurred and the hazard(s) that caused it, statements from people who witnessed the accident, and the accident report that was completed by the property owner or employee.
Another type of Arizona slip and fall accident is when the accident happens on public property, these cases tend to be handled differently. Thankfully in Arizona, slip and fall victims no longer have to worry about their cases being completely closed. Going after the government for public areas where slip and fall accidents occur still makes it to court but comes with strict notice and filing requirements. Our Arizona slip and fall attorneys will be able to guide their clients through these steps.Arizona