The National Floor Safety Institute reports that slip and falls account for over one million hospital emergency room visits each year. Just a quick review of a few slip and fall cases against Wal-Mart alone demonstrates how serious these injuries can be. One Jacksonville woman slipped on a wet spot and suffered irreversible nerve damage to her shoulder. A man tripped on a display and fell with such force that he died from alleged internal injuries. A Broward County woman slipped on liquid soap and dislocated her neck and jaw.
Slip and fall personal injury cases involve a person who slips (or trips) and falls on someone else's property. The terms slip and fall and trip and fall are generally used interchangeably, but the examples below can help you distinguish between the two.
A slip and fall occurs when someone falls because of a substance that is wet or slippery. For example:
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Spilled liquid in a supermarket aisle
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A damp freshly mopped retail store floor
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Spilled oil in an automotive supply store
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A poorly secured rug in an office building
In contrast, a trip and fall occurs when something is impeding a person’s path, causing them to trip over it, such as:
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An item that has fallen from a store shelf
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A protruding tree root or on uneven pavement of a city street
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Train station stairs that are too narrow, uneven or have inadequate railings
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Loose cables, ropes, mats or carpets in an office or apartment building
These cases are difficult to prove, since suing for premises liability requires that you prove that the government or private property owner/manager knew, or should have known, about the danger but didn’t take reasonable precautions to prevent your injury from occurring.
