Were You Involved In A Slip And Fall Accident While At A Grocery Store?
When you head to the grocery store to pick up bread and milk, the last thing you expect or need is to slip and fall. Nevertheless, slip and falls—as they’re somewhat whimsically known as—happen very frequently, and they can result in very serious injuries. If you sustained an injury in a slip and fall accident at the grocery store, it’s natural to want to blame it on your own clumsiness, but carefully consider what caused you to fall and suffer your injuries—including the grocery store’s negligence.
Duty of Care
Whether it’s a local mom and pop, a bodega, or a giant chain, grocery stores—just like all businesses that are open to the public—are responsible for keeping their businesses reasonably safe for the customers whom they serve. If a grocery store fails to maintain a reasonably safe environment for you to hunt for crunchy peanut butter, you may hold that store liable for the injuries you sustain. Such cases fall under premises liability law.
Premises Liability
To create a successful grocery store slip and fall claim, you must establish three specific factors:
A hazard or dangerous condition on the store’s premises (inside or outside) injured you
The store’s owner either caused the hazard or dangerous condition, or knew about the condition (actual notice) or should have known about the hazard’s presence—but did not take reasonable measures to address it (such as by clearing it away, fixing it, or posting a warning sign) in a reasonable amount of time (constructive notice).
The hazard wasn’t so obvious that you could have avoided it
Your grocery store slip and fall case will hinge on how well the specifics of your accident coincide with these elemental factors.
Common Causes of Grocery Store Slip and Falls
Slip and fall accidents can—and often do—take place anywhere, and grocery stores are no exception. A variety of causes, however, are common to grocery store slip and fall accidents:
Parking lots that accumulate ice and snow, wet leaves, or puddles of water
Parking lots with broken or damaged surfaces or that are riddled with debris
Entryways that become slippery from tracked-in ice, snow, rain, wet leaves or other debris
Stores with liquids leaking from the refrigerators
Stores with uneven, broken, ripped, torn, or otherwise damaged floors
Stores with floors that are polished to a slippery sheen
Stores with spilled liquids or slippery foods in the aisles
Stores with debris in the aisles
Stores with dangerously placed or erected displays
If a Grocery Store Slip and Fall Accident Injured You, Consult an Experienced New York Premises Liability Attorney Today
If an innocent trip to the grocery store left you injured due to store negligence, you need the help of experienced New York Premises Liability Attorney. If you have been injured in a slip and fall accident, you may be able to seek compensation from the landowner or the party responsible for the maintenance of the property. To schedule a free case evaluation with a New York Premises Liability Attorney, contact the Law Office of Dimitrios Kourouklis, Ph.D. today at 929-400-7608 or via email. Our team of attorneys represents slip and fall victims in New York, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island, Nassau County, Suffolk County, and Westchester County.
