Your slip and fall accident may have happened so quickly and unexpectedly that in the immediate moments afterward, you may be asking yourself how it even happened. Once you can compose your thoughts and pinpoint a negligent source, you may wonder how you can prove this before a Florida civil court. Well, for this, please follow along to find out the most common ways in which slip and fall accidents are prompted, and how a proficient Morris County, New Jersey slip and fall lawyer at Macri Law Firm can help you establish the causation of your case.
What causes most slip and fall accidents to occur?
Sure, sometimes slip and falls occur out of sheer clumsiness or a split-second inattentiveness to your surroundings. But most other times, the cause can likely be attributed to hazardous conditions that existed due to a property owner’s negligence. More specific examples, one of which may closely relate to your accident event, read as follows:
- Standing snow or ice may cover the designated walkway leading up to a property.
- Cracked pavement or potholes may clutter the parking lot of a property.
- A freshly mopped aisle without a proper warning sign may exist in a supermarket.
- Loose steps or missing tiles may exist in a stairwell of a municipal building.
- Raised and ripped carpeting may exist in the hallways of a hotel building.
- Poor lighting may inhibit visibility of hazards in an apartment building’s lobby.
What is the most useful evidence to have of my slip and fall?
Of course, you will want to have medical evidence to establish that your claimed bodily injuries exist. However, in their defense, a property owner may attempt to argue that those injuries were incurred on another date. Or, that they are part of a degenerative condition, meaning you have experienced wear and tear in this body part over time due to your age, lifestyle, line of work, etc.
So, what is equally important here is to prove that your injuries were directly caused by the slip and fall accident event in question. This is to say that arguably the most useful evidence occurs on the scene itself. Namely, before you leave for medical attention, you should locate the property owner or on-the-clock manager and ask them to fill out an incident report.
From here, you may press further and ask to see the surveillance camera footage that potentially captured the sequence of events that led to your ultimate fall. Lastly, you may ask questions regarding their maintenance logs, such as the last time the area where you fell was inspected, cleaned, repaired, etc.
Again, the property owner may attempt every tactic possible to evade liability. So they may be unwilling to comply with any of your requests, no matter how polite you are or how much visible pain you are in. This is where your hired lawyer comes into play. They will send preservation letters and formally request this documentation before it can be hidden or destroyed.
For further legal guidance, please look no further than a talented Parsippany, New Jersey personal injury lawyer. When you work with Macri Law Firm, you can trust that you are in good hands. Schedule a consultation with us today.