You’re shopping at your local department store. While browsing through the racks, your toe catches a good-sized hole in the carpet. You trip, fall, and injury your arm. You are taken to the hospital. After you are released, you call the store’s owner to let him know you will be sending them your medical bills. The store owner informs you that the accident was your fault since you failed to notice the carpet’s hole and not his. Is he right?
When determining who is at fault after a slip and fall accident, a few questions come to mind:
- Did the store owner know about the dangerous area before the accident?
- Was there any warnings from the property owner about the issue that caused the accident?
- Was there a reason for you being there before the accident occurred?
- Should you have noticed the danger before tripping?
- Were you fooling around at the time of the accident?
However, as we have said before, the safety of the property falls into the hands of the property owner or the tenant. In the scenario above it is clear the owner had failed to alert his patrons of the hole in the carpet which was the cause of the accident. Just because it was a big hole in the carpet that “you should have noticed” is not an excuse.
Has the above scenario happened to you? Essex County personal injury lawyer Anthony Carbone can help! Contact us today for a free consultation. For more information on slip and fall accidents, click here.