Some of the bigger grocery chains in Kentucky now want to fill your fridge and your tank. At many of their locations, Kroger has placed a gas station right outside their front doors. It’s a great convenience for shoppers, but as they accept your grocery and gas money, Kroger is also expected to keep you safe from harm. A fall inside their stores or while standing at their pumps can leave you with a serious injury and may leave you wondering where to turn for help in recovery.
At Louisville’s Kaufman And Stigger PLLC, our attorneys work to protect injury victims, especially when they’ve been hurt on someone else’s property. You are supposed to be provided safe passage whenever you step on to a business location like a grocery store or gas station. When business owners and operators don’t clean-up spills or remove ice, they can be liable when you slip and take a painful fall. Contact our Kentucky attorneys today for a free consultation on your case so we can talk over your options after an accident.
Kroger Fuel Station Slip-And-Fall Dangers
Kroger fuel stations are a handy bargain and a great help to busy Kroger shoppers, but there are dangers associated with all that pull through traffic. Just like the aisles inside a Kroger store can present opportunities for shoppers to slip and fall, a slippery patch at a pump can drop you to the ground in an instant can cause serious and permanent injury.
At least in a grocery store shoppers are spread out a bit more. But at a gas station, people and cars are lined-up to infinity. If the first person spills an ice-cold drink or some candy, everyone else will either have to step over the mess, or step in it and risk taking a fall on that hard pavement. Pavement damage can slowly grow as more and more cars pass over, to the point it becomes a pothole that can send you tripping when you accidentally step on it.
These dangers can include weather hazards, especially in the winter, when water run-off can suddenly freeze and create an icy patch that makes it impossible to stay on your feet.
Premises Liability at Kroger Fuel Stations
Under the “duty of care,” legal concept proprietors are required to provide a safe visit to everyone who comes on their property. They are also required to monitor for potential problems, warn customers of hazards and get them repaired or cleaned up in a reasonable amount of time. They can be held responsible if they are negligent in these duties under “premises liability” laws.
Property owners should be first to step up to cover your hospital bills when you get hurt by their mistake. Unfortunately, they aren’t always happy to do that. What’s more, a large corporation like Kroger will have their own team of lawyers working to discredit you and your case. They’ll want to blame you for your accident and deny you any form of compensation. That’s when an attorney joining your side can be invaluable. A slip-and-fall attorney will have dealt with big companies before and know how to recognize their lowball offers and tricky strategies to get you to accept blame.
Common Injuries in Slip-And-Fall Accidents
A pit stop to refuel your SUV shouldn’t be enough to threaten your health or be able to send you into a disabling fall, but those are the serious consequences some victims face.
In slip-and-fall accidents, the victims’ feet are usually taken out from under them as they fall backward. A trip-and-fall incident will often grab a victims’ feet, but their momentum will keep the rest of the body falling forward, face first.
Here are some of the most common fall injuries seen in emergency rooms:
- Head and Brain Injuries. A fall forward or backward can risk a strike to the head on cement pylons and other incredibly hard structures you’ll see at gas stations. The CDC finds that over 800,000 patients a year are hospitalized for falls. Head injuries and hip fractures are the most common reasons for hospitalization.
- Damage to the spinal cord and spinal structure can lead to paraplegia (loss of control in the lower limbs) or quadriplegia (loss of control of all four limbs).
- Dislocations and broken bones. Damage to hips is most common after a slip. A victim’s mobility is taken away and for older people that can lead to a gradual decline in overall health.
- Hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder injuries can occur in trip-and-fall incidents. People fall forward and try to extend their arms out to catch themselves.
- Face and mouth injuries can also result from a fall forward. A face first strike can damage bone and soft tissue in the facial structure and damage teeth.
These debilitating injuries can take your freedom for a few weeks, months, or even paralyze you for the rest of your life. A claim for damages against a company like Kroger should not only cover the costs of hospitalization and rehabilitation now, but also cover all of the care, medical equipment, and physical therapy you might need in the future.
Contact a Gas Station Slip-And-Fall Attorney
Accident victims often wonder if they need an attorney, and the answer is almost always yes. Insurance company agents have years of experience and are good at their job which is to pay you as little as possible or nothing at all. You need someone just as experienced to help you level the field.
Talk to a Louisville Slip-And-Fall Attorney you can trust to be on your side and fight for your fair compensation. The attorneys at Kaufman & Stigger, PLLC, have that knowledge and a combined 100 years’ experience in helping clients get the compensation they’ll need to make a full recovery. To discuss your case, contact Kaufman & Stigger, PLLC today, by clicking here to contact them online.
