Winter Weather and Slip and Fall Accidents: Can You Recover?

by wpengine | January 31st, 2017

Winter Weather and Slip and Fall Accidents: Can You Recover?

Anyone who spends time in Michigan knows that dealing with ice and snow can be a hassle. However, if a person or company owns property, they have the legal duty to make sure it is safe for visitors, which includes timely removal of ice and snow.

If a parking lot, sidewalk, or entryway into a building is icy, customers and visitors can easily slip and fall down, often seriously injuring themselves. Some injuries that commonly result from a slip and fall on ice or snow include the following:

After a slip and fall on ice, a person can require emergency medical care, hospitalization, ongoing physical therapy, and even surgery. Recovery can take weeks or months and they may miss work for most of that time, causing them to lose income as well as incur costly medical bills. For these reasons, it is important to examine your legal rights if you fall down on someone else’s property due to ice or snow.

Liability of Property Owners

There are several factors involved in the analysis of your legal rights after a winter weather slip and fall. First, did you have permission to be on the property? If you were a customer at a business open to the public or if you were an otherwise invited guest on the property, the owner owes you a certain duty of care to keep the property safe. However, if you were trespassing on the premises and you slipped and fell, you likely do not have the legal right to hold the owner liable.

In addition, it is important when the winter weather occurred and when the fall happened. For example, if the premises became icy overnight and the owner failed to remove the ice in the morning causing you to slip and fall at noon the next day, the owner was likely negligent in failing to address the situation that they should have known would be hazardous. However, if ice fell at night and you fell in a parking lot at 5 a.m, the owner may not have had adequate time to remove the ice or even learn of the ice, so they might not be held liable.

Contact a Slip and Fall Accident Attorney in Michigan for Help

Determining your rights after a slip and fall accident can be complex, so it is important to have an experienced Michigan slip and fall lawyer handling your case. Call Michigan Injury Lawyers at 313-GET-HELP for a free consultation.

Posted In: Personal Injury