Slip and fall accidents can happen anywhere including grocery stores, hotels, amusement parks, and even in a friend’s home. These sudden accidents can often lead to serious injuries, including broken bones, muscle strains or sprains, head trauma, and spinal cord damage. If you’ve been involved in a slip and fall accident, you may be able to recover compensation for your injuries from the responsible party. But, who is liable in slip and fall accidents?
The Property Owner
The legal concept of premises liability plays an important role in slip and fall cases. In the state of Colorado, property owners are required to maintain safe conditions on their property. If a property owner fails to do so and a guest is injured as a result, the property owner could be held liable for the injuries.
However, a property owner is not automatically found liable for every injury that occurs on his property. It must be proven that the owner knew or should have known about the hazardous condition and did not take action to remedy the situation.
For example, let’s say a grocery store employee accidentally spills a cup of water on the floor and fails to clean it up. The puddle of water remains on the floor for hours, until you slip and fall on it while leaving the store. In this case, the property owner may not have known about the hazard. However, an attorney may be able to prove that he should have known about it because it was present for hours before the injury occurred.
The Victim
The person who was injured in the slip and fall may be partially or totally liable for his own injuries. For instance, he could have been distracted at the time of the accident, and thus unable to avoid hazards in his path.
Colorado is a modified comparative negligence state. This means you may still recover compensation for your injuries even if you are partially to blame, as long as you are not 50% or more responsible.
Using the examples above, say you could have avoided the slip and fall accident in the grocery store if you hadn’t been distracted by your cell phone. It may be determined that you are 30% responsible and the property owner was 70% responsible. In this case, you will only receive 70% of the compensation awarded to you. If you were found to be 50% or more liable, you would not receive any compensation.
If you have been injured in a slip and fall accident, it’s imperative you seek legal representation at once. Contact Reisch Law Firm today to learn how we can prove the property owner was liable so you can recover the compensation that you deserve. Schedule a free consultation by calling 303-291-0555 or filling out this online form.
