Slip and Fall Accidents Aggravated by Icy Winter Conditions

Feb. 25, 2011 - PRLog -- Bitterly cold winter winds, excessive snowfall, freezing rain, sleet and icy conditions are frequently to blame for numerous accidents, injuries and deaths each winter. Icy sidewalks, slippery steps and slick parking lots cause thousands of injuries, some of which are serious.

An untreated, icy surface can leave a victim confined to a wheelchair or with a permanent spinal cord injury, causing the inability to walk, drive or work, as well as loss of income and mounting medical bills. Often a person who is injured due to a slip and fall incident may not realize the full extent of his injuries right away; the effects may not become apparent for weeks or months.

If you find yourself in this situation, it’s a good idea to contact a personal injury attorney in order to protect your rights and see if you have a valid claim; otherwise you may be faced with paying a mountain of unexpected expenses out of your own pocket.

There are many legal complexities involved in pursuing slip and fall injury claims, and issues can become complicated when attempting to assign fault, determining whether the existing conditions were in fact unsafe, and in calculating the financial impact of the injuries experienced.

If you are on someone else's property and become injured as a result of a hazardous condition on the property, the landowner or business proprietor may be legally liable for your injuries. If you are a property owner and someone becomes injured on your land, you may find yourself legally responsible for the injuries sustained. In either case, you should seek the advice of an experienced personal injury lawyer immediately.

According to Blake Maislin, a Cincinnati injury attorney, “Typically, it must be proven that the property owner was aware of the hazardous condition before the injury occurred. There are few exceptions to this rule. In addition, in some cases, the dangerous area that caused the injured person to trip or fall may have been open and obvious and therefore a court will not allow you to present a claim if you could have avoided the danger yourself. In other words, both the property owner and the injured person can be held to varying degrees of responsibility for an injury.”

If you’re in doubt of whether you need a personal injury attorney, Maislin recommends that you call to schedule a free consultation in order to get some advice from a legal professional. “It’s better to call and not need us than to need us and not call, “ he recommended.

If you would like more information about this topic, you may contact Blake Maislin of The Law Offices of Blake Laislin, LLC at 513-721-5555 (in Ohio); in northern Kentucky, call 859-426-5299, or visit their website at http://www.autoinjury.tv.

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