Shortcuts In Landscaping And Construction Place Fall Liability On Property Owner
Brian O Sutter
Personal Injury
Aside from car accidents, one of the more common personal injury cases we see are those sustained in a business. The reason cases like this frequently result in the need for a personal injury attorney is that liability is always at question when it happens. The circumstances of the injury are just as confusing and important as any person involved. As we have gained our knowledge from studying and experiences representing victims who have become injured at a place of business, we now there are many shortcuts and loopholes with equal potential to hurt or help a case. What Is Expected
It is an implied right for the consumer that when you enter an establishment they have to the duty of providing a safe environment and to warn of hazardous situations otherwise. It is also expected of the patron to use reasonable care when inside the establishment. The lines can get a little fuzzy as far as the hazardous warnings go. If the hazard was of the caliber that it was not necessary to be warned of it to notice it then there are ways to get around that duty. However, as the business owner it is always smart to warn people of any hazard just to avoid complications with liability.
Complications And Shortcuts
There are always going to be specific cases that call the otherwise regular guidelines into question. Liability is something that gets passed around like a hot potato in a personal injury case. When a business is getting started there are a lot of different parties involved in construction and landscaping. Therefore that blame can get passed around a little more. In some cases the space of business is being rented and some of the landscaping or building maintenance is not done by the business itself. This is when there become some fierce complications the All Injuries personal injury attorneys are prepared for.
For example, recently in our state of Florida there was a case where a landscaping company left an exposed rebar piece that lead to a fall in the parking lot of a dollar store. The dollar store is a rented space and they did not provide the landscaping company or leave the rebar exposed. However, there was no warning of hazard and it did lead to an injury. So what does this mean? It first brings into to question the level of notice, before liability is placed on anyone. As mentioned before if the hazard is open and obvious the business owner may not have needed to provide further warning.
Furthermore, in this specific case the court ruled that because the location of the rebar was near an established footpath, it could have very easily been noticed. So, who gets the blame for this? The business, the injured party or someone else? In his specific case it came down to some paperwork. It showed that the owner and the lessee both had control and ownership of the parking lot where the fall occurred. Therefore, the liability does fall on the business, even though the landscaping and subsequent hazard were provided for another company. We enjoy seeing someone who has suffered get compensation for something like this. This is what personal injury attorneys are for, navigating the complications.