What Is A Slip & Fall?

‘Slip And Fall’ is a claim under Tort laws in the United States. The ‘Slip and Fall’ law is effective when a person is injured on the property of another individual or party due to the property owner’s negligence or poor conditions which would cause the fall. Property owners usually have two arguments in their defense against the ‘Slip and Fall’ claim filed against them:

1. In the case wherein a person trips or slips on an object on the floor, the owner can claim that the object fell there only moments before, which would not give the owner sufficient time to remove the object before the victim sees it.

2. The second, and more common argument for the defendant, is that the victim was negligent and failed to exercise due diligence by not seeing the object which they tripped or slipped on.

It is generally perceived that the victim of a ‘Slip and Fall’ accident is partially at fault, which is why the claims are worth less than other injuries.

There are specific instruments which can measure the resistance of surfaces upon which Slip and Fall accidents take place. The instruments help identify is the surface’s slip resistance threshold is at an adequate level.

When determining if the owner of the property is at fault, or his reasoning or lack there of, the law looks at factors such as:

1. Was the spot you fell over present long enough that the owner should have known about it?

2. Does the owner have a consistent procedure for thorough examination of his or her property?

3. Was there a legitimate reason for the object to be there when you tripped on it?