Common Injuries From Trips and Falls

There are many common injuries from trips and falls or slip and fall accidents. Many people underestimate how severe a trip and fall injury can be, and may not realize that they could be dealing with the consequences of such an accident for months or even years to come.

If you have been hurt in an accident that could have been prevented if someone had fixed or removed an obstacle on their property, this could meet the grounds for a premises liability legal claim. Premises liability holds that property owners and managers have a legal responsibility to guests on their property to remove obstacles that could cause problems. 

If a patron on that property winds up seriously hurt, the property owner or manager may be responsible for paying damages to the injured party. These damages can include past and future medical bills, lost wages, and more, depending on your specific state. 

A dedicated trip and fall injury attorney can help you put together a legal case to present your side of the story if you were critically hurt in an accident. Meeting with an experienced trip and fall injury attorney may be your best bet to verify your legal rights and to learn more about the kinds of compensation to which you might be entitled. There are many unique aspects to pursuing a premises liability claim, the support of a qualified injury and premises liability attorney can help you to successfully recover the compensation you deserve.

To speak with someone about this in a free case evaluation, contact Morgan & Morgan today, with no cost or obligation to you. To learn more about common injuries from trips and falls, read on.

Read First: What to Do After a Slip and Fall

Slipping and falling or tripping and falling on someone else's property can feel embarrassing, but this does not mean that it was your fault, that you were a klutz, or that you were careless. 

In fact, conditions at the scene of the accident are often to blame. You may discover that there was liquid on the floor, for example, or torn carpeting that caused you to trip and fall. These factors can lead to many common injuries from a trip and fall accident and may become important in your trip and fall injury claim. 

If you realize the source of the problem while still at the scene of your accident, try to gather evidence that shows the unsafe conditions on the premises, such as photos or other witnesses’ contact information. If you were unable to gather such evidence, you can rely on your premises liability attorney to collect this information for you and to present it in a legal claim. 

The most important thing to do after you have been hurt, however, is to get medical attention. 

The property owner, manager, or other employees at the property on which you were hurt may try to get you to give verbal statements or to sign paperwork. This can be especially nerve-wracking for you, as you do not always know exactly what happened and may unexpectedly make a statement that could harm the future of your claim. Furthermore, you are not in the right state of mind to be reading and signing paperwork at this time when you're not yet sure where your injuries are. 

This is why it is strongly recommended that you get medical attention and then later consult with a premises liability attorney about the common injuries from a trip and fall accident. This gives you a chance to clearly understand what it is that you are looking at and to refuse to sign any paperwork that may cause you to give up your rights or otherwise and unnecessarily expose you. 

If you're struggling with the aftermath of a trip and fall accident, you are not the only one. Many people who are hurt in trip and fall accidents get a diagnosis and realize that they may have one or more injuries that can impact them for days, weeks, months, or even longer. 

What Are the Most Common Injuries From a Trip and Fall Accident?

Falls are one of the leading causes of injuries across the United States—and not just in hazardous occupations. Trip and fall accidents can and do happen to anyone on many different types of properties including parking lots, stores, shopping malls, apartment complexes, government buildings, and many other places. These property owners still maintain the legal responsibility to ensure that their properties are reasonably free and clear of obstacles and hazards. When a hazard continues to exist and the property staff has not tried to remove it or to place warning signs around it so as to prevent accidents, they could be held legally responsible in court for injuries sustained by someone who trips and falls. 

Since trip and fall accidents are often part of comedy sketches or cartoons, many people underestimate just how much they can seriously hurt someone. It is no laughing matter when someone trips and falls because of an obstacle or hazard that they could not have seen or avoided. In these situations, this person may miss work, may have to give up physical activities or alter their daily life for some time to come, and may have to deal with rising medical bills and future expenses.

Trip and fall injuries can run the gamut from minor scrapes and an impact on your pride all the way to severely broken bones and other damage, such as critical back pain or a concussion. Cuts lacerations, internal organ damage, torn tendons and ligaments, and many other medical conditions are common examples of problems from slip and fall injuries. Neck injuries, spinal cord injuries, ankle and knee injuries, shoulder wrist and elbow injuries, and more can also all occur in a slip and fall or trip and fall accident.

One of the biggest problems with trip and fall injuries is how you fall. Many people use their wrists or elbows to brace themselves in a serious fall and this could lead to critical injuries and severe pain. This can also lead to broken bones. Furthermore, if you strike something on the way down, particularly on your head, this could lead to concussions or even traumatic brain injuries. 

In the moment, you may not fully comprehend what has happened, but it is imperative to gather any and all evidence if possible and to share this with your medical professional as well as your premises liability attorney. 

Who Is Liable?

If you can show that someone else is responsible for maintaining an area free and clear of hazards and that you still suffered a trip and fall in an accident, you could be able to recover compensation for your damages, such as medical bills and lost income due to missed work.

More than one party may be liable in your lawsuit, depending on how the accident happened and your potential costs in the future. A full investigation is necessary to determine what might have happened and how you can rectify that situation through a damage claim. Although it may be uncomfortable to file a claim against a business owner or apartment complex owner, it still should not be your burden—you may need the funds to help you close out this chapter of your life, heal from your injuries, and move on. 

What if I Never Recover? 

Getting medical attention early on in your trip and fall or slip and fall injury claim is extremely important. This is because it gives your doctor an opportunity to diagnose you and to come up with a treatment plan. However, there are also some situations in which you may never fully recover from your injury. Many people can take weeks or months to recover, but some people will also live with chronic pain depending on how they fell and what they struck on the way down. 

It is essential that you hire a premises liability attorney who is prepared to argue this claim in court and who is comfortable gathering the necessary information to show how your life has changed. If you have permanent injuries, your lawyer must be able to argue this clearly in your claim. 

Am I Required to Settle My Claim?

Many premises liability cases involving common injuries from trip and falls resolve outside of court rather than going to trial. This is because your attorney should be experienced and familiar with how to negotiate settlement offers based on your current medical bills and other expenses as well as those that may apply in the future. Many companies named at fault in trip and fall injuries are concerned about the level of damages that may be awarded in court and would rather settle.

If you can come to terms with the other parties in your lawsuit, you may be able to resolve your claim quicker and easier. However, your premises liability attorney, who is familiar with the most common injuries from trip and fall accidents, should also be prepared to push through for trial if the other side is not willing to agree on a firm settlement offer that fully compensates you. 

Let Morgan & Morgan Fight for You

Set aside a time to talk to the qualified premises liability lawyers at Morgan & Morgan today to further protect your rights and to ensure that you have the opportunity to file a lawsuit within the statute of limitations in your location.

If someone else’s negligence caused your accident and suffering, contact us today for a free, no-obligation case evaluation to learn more about how you can get justice.