Who’s Responsible If I Slip Outside a Store?

If you’re going out to get groceries, some new clothes, or a new grill, or shopping and visiting stores, it should be a simple and safe experience. We’re thinking about what items we’re going to buy, not whether or not we’ll be needing an ambulance ride to the hospital.

Whether it’s because of ice, rainwater, or a spilled liquid, we are always caught off guard when we slip and fall. Slip and fall accidents aren’t uncommon and can lead to some serious injuries. When it happens, it’s important to know who is at fault, and whether or not you may receive compensation for your injuries.

What sort of injuries can I sustain in a slip and fall accident?

Slip and fall incidents may seem like simple mishaps, an accident that ends up with you bruised, sore, and maybe a little scraped up but nothing more. In reality, slip and falls can lead to injuries requiring immediate and long-term care. For some people, slip and falls can even result in chronic pain, making it impossible to lead the lives they once did.

There are many factors that lead to these sorts of accidents becoming a stressful and painful medical incident. If you seriously injure yourself in a slip and fall accident, you could end up paying thousands of dollars in medical bills, but be unable to work to afford those bills.

The sorts of injuries you can sustain from a slip and fall accident include:

• Traumatic brain injuries: If you slip and fall, hitting your head, your brain could be harmed. Whether that be damage done to your skull that leads to internal bleeding, or your brain knocking against the inside of your skull. These sorts of injuries are extremely serious.
• Spine and spinal cord injury: Falls often affect the victims’ neck, back, and spine. Some spinal cord injuries can cause paralysis, loss of feeling, chronic pain, and other life altering conditions.
• Broken bones: Broken hips, legs, and arms are very common slip and fall injuries, and can lead to complications. This is especially true of people with weak bones or muscles, including the elderly.
• Injuries to muscles, ligaments, nerves, and tissue: Many slip and fall victims also live with chronic pain due to these other sorts of injuries. Nerve damage can affect you for life, while ligament, muscle and tissue damage may take weeks to months. All of these injuries may end up requiring further surgery, medical bills, and healing time.

A slip and fall accident may even end up fatal, and if that’s the case, our attorneys can file a wrongful death lawsuit on your family’s behalf.

What types of fall accidents are there?

While one might expect to see more falls outside a store or business when it is icy or wet, there are other places and different circumstances under which someone can fall. Some of the causes of falls include:

• Poor lighting
• Failure to clean ice and snow in the parking lots, entrances, or tracked into the building
• Failure of a neighbor to shovel their sidewalk
• Spilled food, drinks and liquids
• Carpets that have tears or aren’t level
• Broken or missing tiles
• Uneven surfaces
• Stairs that aren’t evenly spaced or aren’t level
• Merchandise or debris on the floor

And while slipping outside or inside a store is a common occurrence, these sorts of accidents can happen anywhere. Stores, private homes, other businesses, and nursing homes all have instances of slip and fall accidents. It’s true that we can experience a fall just about anywhere, it’s at these places that are owned and maintained by others that financial compensation is eligible.

Who is liable for a slip and fall accident in Kansas City?

If you’ve slipped and hurt yourself in a public place such as at a business, shop, or nursing home, then whoever owns and maintains that property is liable for your injuries: “In Missouri and Kansas, property owners owe a duty of care to people they invite onto their property and people they give permission to be on their property. Property owners generally do not owe a duty of care to trespassers.” Some of those who we have filed lawsuits against in the past for premises liability claims include:

• The owners of the property, including any parent or subsidiary companies
• Architects
• Engineers
• Contractors
• Repair businesses
• Maintenance companies
• Nursing homes that fail to design or monitor their facilities properly

There are a whole host of people who can and should be held liable for not keeping their property safe. This is why if you’ve fallen on someone else’s property, you should talk with one of our premises liability attorneys. We have experience with slip and fall claims against private companies, national retailers, worksites and more.

An injury from a slip and fall accident may seem like it should be simple and uncomplicated, but it can have long-term or even permanent repercussions. When a property owner or manager fails to keep their property safe, and you get injured, you can seek damages for your pain and suffering, medical bills, and lost wages. If you’ve been injured by slipping and falling on someone’s property, then speak to one of our attorneys. Kansas City Accident Injury Attorneys is ready and willing to fight for your compensation. Our main office is in Kansas City, but we have additional offices in Lee’s Summit, Parkville, St. Joseph, Olathe and Overland Park. Please call us at 816-471-5111 or fill out our contact form.