Malls hope to bring store owners and customers together under one giant roof for everyone’s benefit. Yet, while those shops want your dollars and cents, they should be looking out for your safety as well. A spill on a floor, a ripped carpet, or a malfunctioning escalator can all send you into a dangerous fall.
If you are visiting a mall and are injured due to the negligence of owners and operators, please contact Kaufman & Stigger PLLC, Injury Lawyers of Louisville to make sure your case is handled correctly. You didn’t cause your trip-and-fall or slip-and-fall and you shouldn’t have to worry over hospital bills as you recover. Contact us for a free consultation and let us help determine just who may be held responsible for your injuries.
Slip-And-Fall Dangers At Louisville Malls
Louisville has its share of Mega-Malls and dozens of smaller shopping venues. You may go big with the Mall St. Matthews, the Oxmoor, or Jefferson Malls or you may like the upscale feel at Paddock Shops. No matter where you seek out bargains, safety should never be overlooked.
Mall management may see a customer spill a giant soft drink on the main path through the mall and immediately get wet floor signs out and a mop on the way. Or they may let it sit there until you walk along, don’t see the spill, and end up on those hard, glossy floors. They may not have known about the issue, but perhaps they don’t have enough employees monitoring for these problems.
What’s more, store owners may have obstacles on their property that they created themselves. It may be exposed wiring along a wall, or a broken railing on a stairwell, or a hidden tripping hazard at the edge of a display. These and more issues can fall under premises liability laws and force the property owner to take responsibility for your injuries.
Determining Who is Accountable in a Mall Slip-And-Fall
Mall injuries can make for complex cases, but that can work to the victim’s advantage. You could have several parties who can take the blame and share the costs of your injury.
You may have tripped in the middle of the mall, outside of a store, and in that case, filing a claim for damages against the mall property owners and developers may be appropriate. It would likely be a similar outcome after an injury in the parking lot.
While you’re inside a store like JCPenney or Macy’s, or near a kiosk, the nationwide chain or the local operator may be the ones held responsible for your injury, and the mall owners may also still be on the hook for damages. The same goes for restaurant locations in the mall.
Trip-And-Fall Common Injuries
The question of liability can be such an important factor, because your injury may affect the way you spend the rest of your life. You could face a disability from your fall in the week or months to come. You might need medical equipment and more surgeries in the years to come. You might even have to miss considerable time at work or have to change careers entirely due to your injury.
The CDC takes falls of any kind seriously. They found that one out of five falls causes a serious injury such as broken bones or head trauma.
Slip-and-fall accidents can cause any of these common outcomes seen in emergency rooms:
- Skull fractures and traumatic brain injuries (TBI). These head injuries can result in severe concussions and permanent memory loss.
- Spinal cord damage. This can lead to paraplegia (loss of control of the lower extremities) and quadriplegia (loss of control of all four extremities). These severe injuries also lead to diminished life expectancy.
- Broken bones and dislocations. These can require multiple surgeries and can result in chronic pain. A hip fracture is one of the biggest dangers in a fall.
Slip-and-fall accidents usually send the victim backward, but with a trip-and-fall victims are often sent forward. Potholes are commonly associated with trip-and-fall accidents and injuries on the way into the mall. Broken flooring or folded rugs can also cause trips.
Hands and arms are more likely to break in a trip because people put their hands out to catch themselves. You risk landing on your face in a tripping accident as well. This can lead to permanent scarring and disfigurement. Knees may also be the first thing that hits the hard floor as you fall.
Contact a Louisville Slip-And-Fall Attorney
With all of the possible injuries and the multiple companies who may be responsible, it’s important to have someone on your side who can sort out all of the questions that arise after a mall accident. You may have to take on a national retail giant like Macy’s to seek compensation but these companies will have their own teams of lawyers fighting to weaken your claim. Let a Louisville attorney fight on your side and make sure they can’t toss your case out.
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.