If You Slip and Fall on an Icy Sidewalk or Walkway, Can You Sue?

Winter is here, and so are all our favorite winter activities. While most of us choose to stay indoors with a hot cup of cocoa or a warm blanket, we do of course have to brave the frosty outdoors.

As pedestrians, we are faced with various risks that occur while using the sidewalks or roads. Both these surfaces get covered with ice and snow, creating hazards in the form of slip and fall accidents. Ice-related slip and fall accidents can cause various injuries – some even catastrophic. Slip and fall accidents could land you in the hospital as a result of serious injuries that require expensive medical treatments. It can also negatively affect your livelihood because you may need to take time off from work to recover completely.

Many are under the misconception that sidewalks are a part of the city or government property, but this isn’t always the case. Both the owners of residential properties and owners of commercial properties are the ones accountable for the sidewalks that are in front of their residence or establishment. It is their responsibility to tend to their sidewalks and keep it free from ice and any mishaps caused by it.

So how do you sue someone who is responsible for your frozen misstep?

If the fall occurs on government-owned sidewalk

In case you fall on a sidewalk that is a property of the local government, then they can be held responsible for not maintaining the sidewalks properly. You can sue for the government for injury caused by their negligence. You will have to carry out the following steps in order to sue them.

1. Identify the government agency that you would have to approach. Collect all the necessary paperwork and documents and file a notice of claim with the government agency.

2. The government will then be given a time period of three to six months to respond to your injury claim. There isn’t much you can do during this period to speed up the case at this point.

3.If the government fails to respond even after six months or refuses to move towards settlement, then you will have the right to file a lawsuit against that government body for your injury. At this point, seeking the service of a personal injury lawyer would prove beneficial.

If the fall occurs on a privately-owned sidewalk

You can also file a claim against a private property owner –  a residential or commercial property owner under whose control the sidewalk is. Both a private and a commercial owner have the responsibility of keeping their sidewalks safe and ice-free, by clearing the sidewalks of dangerous ice.

To sue a private property owner, you will have to file a notice of claim. The property owner should respond to the claim within 3 to 6 months. If they fail to do so, you can file a personal injury case at the civil court.

However, property owners will allege that you were trespassing their private property. They can also imply the fact that the fall was caused as a result of your own negligence which resulted in the injury, making you liable for your own injury.

In either case, be it a private homeowner or a business establishment, you will require sufficient proof that the defendant knew or should have known about the hazardous conditions at some point preceding the incident. Evidence needs to be gathered such as defects, prior reporting of similar accidents, weather conditions, etc.

To collect all such evidence, you would require the guidance of a qualified personal injury attorney who is specialized in handling these kinds of cases.

When a slip and fall injury occurs to a worker a worker after slipping on ice, it can have grave consequences. The worker will be able to receive workers' compensation insurance to pay for lost income. But in case of the accident occurs to a pedestrian during non-working hours, then the situation can get tricky.

This individual might lose his or her source of income during his course of recovery from the slip-and-fall injuries. Therefore, anyone who suffers a slip-and-fall injury should investigate and figure out who is at fault for their accident. If another party is at fault, the injured person will be able to pay his medical bills once he recovers damages received as a settlement.

If you’ve suffered an injury due to falling on the sidewalk give us a call at 844-777-2529 or contact us for a free consultation to find out what kind of claim you could file for.