Slip and Fall Accidents During the Winter: Using Premises Liability and Section 7-210 in Your Favor
Have you recently had a slip and fall accident due to ice or snow in the New York area? With winter weather pounding New York considerably in the last few years, the chances of someone slipping and falling on a public sidewalk go way up. If you happened to slip and fall on a public walkway in front of a business or apartment, your chances of obtaining compensation for your medical bills are also considerably good.
The reasons for that are due to premises liability and a law in New York that makes it easier to seek damages after falling on a public sidewalk.
Premises Liability and Taking Care of Public Walkways
In New York, the general concept of premises liability means that every property owner responsible for a public walkway is held liable if someone falls there. This means anything that could cause someone to fall has to be dealt with or at least given a warning with a sign. In the case of ice, owners of the property should hire someone to scrape ice off the sidewalk to avoid chances of lawsuits.
Regardless, far too many property owners don’t bother to do the above perhaps due to the cost. They may even neglect to place a sign outside warning of icy conditions based on the thought that everyone knows to be careful.
In reality, it’s sometimes hard to gauge what’s truly slippery and what isn’t. Ice can sometimes look like it’s not slippery and ultimately become an ice rink once stepped on. With no sign outside to warn anyone, you might end up being one of those victims who falls and ends up breaking a bone.
What to Do After the Initial Fall
As soon as you seek medical attention for your fall, contact a personal injury lawyer immediately. Here at Frekhtman & Associates, we’re here to assist you and show you our success rate in cases like this. We’ll then find out exactly who owns that property you slipped on so they can be held responsible for your injuries. We’ll also interview witnesses and capture any video footage from security cameras. With evidence, your case will be all the stronger.
We’ll also employ one particular New York law that hones in on caring for public sidewalks.
Section 7-210 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York
As formal as the above law sounds, it’s one of the most important that we utilize if you’ve fallen on an icy sidewalk. This law defines any real property owner of that sidewalk as being responsible for your injuries if you fall due to ice or other dangerous elements. It places extensive responsibility on landlords owning apartments around New York City and forcing them to buy insurance as liability. A landlord is responsible for a defective public sidewalk adjoining his or her property. The exception to Adm. Code 7-210 is a one, two, or three family owner occupied property. In this case, the responsibility for the adjoining sidewalk is on The City of New York.
Contact us here at Frekhtman & Associates if you’ve just come home from the hospital due to injury from a slip and fall accident. With the third heaviest snowfall for the month of February recorded already, there could be many more lawsuits due to ice coming our way. However, we want you to get justice for your injuries as soon as possible. Contact us for a free consultation.