Orangeburg, SC Slip and Fall Injury Lawyer
People sometimes try to downplay their injuries after a slip and fall accident, often out of embarrassment. However, you might be badly hurt, and the person who caused the accident should be held accountable.
After a slip and fall accident, you need to take certain steps to protect yourself and your legal interests in the event of a lawsuit. First, you should get your injuries checked out immediately. Second, you should take photos of the accident scene before you leave, as the property owner might remove the hazardous conditions before you can return, thus eliminating evidence. Slip and fall injuries might stem from numerous hazards on someone’s property, including wet floors, unclean messes, and unsafe structures or fixtures. Your damages should include the monetary costs of your injuries in addition to the emotional toll. You should name the property owner in your case, although determining their identity is not always easy. Our attorneys can help.
For a confidential, free evaluation of your case, contact our slip and fall injury attorneys at Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers by calling (803) 451-4000.
What You Can Do to Protect Your Rights After a Slip and Fall Accident in Orangeburg, SC
Slip and fall accidents can be tricky because they often occur on someone’s private property. Once you leave the property for medical treatment, the owner might remove or repair the hazards that caused you to fall. Often, this means that evidence about the accident is gone before you even speak to an attorney. If you or someone you know is ever injured in a slip and fall accident, you can take the following precautions to protect your rights and interests.
First, you should try to take photos or record videos of the accident area. If you fall down an unsafe flight of stairs, you or someone with you should snap some quick photos of the stairs. Perhaps there was no hand-railing, which might be against building safety codes. By the time you and our slip and fall injury lawyers return to the scene, the property owner might have installed a handrail, and suddenly, your case becomes about your word against theirs.
Second, you must get to a doctor as soon as possible. People are often a bit embarrassed after a slip and fall accident. You might feel compelled to downplay your injuries in an attempt to avoid humiliation. However, you might have serious injuries.
In addition, if you wait to see a doctor, your medical records might be less than reliable in court. For example, if you wait a couple of days to see a doctor about your twisted ankle after falling on the stairs, the defendant might argue that your injury might have happened sometime between the fall and your visit to the doctor. The longer you wait, the harder it might be to prove your claims in court.
How Slip and Fall Injuries Might Occur in and Around Orangeburg, SC
A slip and fall injury can happen almost anywhere. A slip and fall accident might be possible, whether you are having dinner at a friend’s house, climbing the stairs in your office building, or pushing a shopping cart around the grocery store.
A commonly cited factor in many slip and fall injury claims is wet or slippery floors or walkways. Perhaps you were walking through the grocery store when you slipped on a freshly mopped floor that lacked a wet-floor sign. Maybe you were walking to your table in a restaurant when you slipped in someone’s spilled drink that staff were too slow to clean up or section off, so no patrons got hurt. Even a minor spill might cause someone severe injuries.
Unclean messes are another common problem. The mess might consist of debris from a property renovation, trash from an overturned trashcan, or someone’s personal belongings they carelessly left on the floor where someone might trip. Walkways where foot traffic is expected should be kept clear of mess and debris. If not, people might fall and get hurt.
Hazards on the property might also lead to injuries. For example, broken glass from a shattered window, exposed wires, and faulty infrastructure could cause harm to guests on the property. While these might not be slip and fall injuries, they are still premises liability issues that should be discussed with your lawyer.
Recoverable Damages for Slip and Fall Injuries in Orangeburg, SC
Damages in slip and fall accidents may be much greater than many plaintiffs initially think. As mentioned, people tend to dismiss or downplay injuries from slip and fall accidents. In reality, victims might be left with severe or even debilitating injuries that require costly treatment. Other areas of the victim’s life might also be impacted, leading to even greater expenses and damages.
Economic costs from slip and fall accidents tend to revolve around medical bills, but other expenses should be considered, too. Injuries like fractures, brain injuries, back injuries, and sprains are common, and hospital bills might be very high.
On top of that, your injuries might prevent you from working for a few weeks, months, or indefinitely, depending on how badly you are hurt. In such cases, plaintiffs lose income and wages, and paying for medical costs and basic living needs becomes even harder. We can evaluate the income you have lost and add it to your damages.
Non-economic injuries should also be accounted for. The embarrassment from the fall might be more serious than many people realize. Perhaps you slipped and fell at work in front of numerous coworkers and colleagues. Maybe you are embarrassed about how much time you have to take off from work. The mental stress of the accident might not cost money, but it is costly in other ways, and it deserves compensation.
Contact Our Orangeburg, SC Slip and Fall Injury Lawyers for Help Now
For a private, free assessment of your claims, contact our slip and fall injury attorneys at Burriss Ridgeway Injury Lawyers by calling (803) 451-4000.
