You may not think of your walking up and down the stairs as a dangerous activity. After all, you may take this action countless times per day. But whenever you enter someone else’s property, you may run the risk of being exposed to potential dangers. Therefore, a property owner may fail to maintain or repair their broken or faulty staircases before you pay them a visit, and you may slip and fall as a result. With that being said, please continue reading to learn how stairways can be potentially dangerous to use and how an experienced Tampa stairway accident lawyer at Merricks Law Group, P.A. can help you make this situation right again.
How can stairways be potentially dangerous to use?
Florida’s building codes cover rules and regulations for how stairways are supposed to be designed and built in homes and on public properties. But even if these stairways are up to code, property owners must continually maintain and repair them whenever their conditions turn potentially dangerous. Below are examples of such conditions:
- Inadequate overhead lighting above the stairway or faded reflective tape on each step.
- A loose handrail alongside the stairway or loose carpeting lining the stairway.
- Steps with weak structural support (i.e., missing tiles, rotting wood, crumbling concrete, etc).
- Steps with distances too far from one another, or inconsistent distances from one another.
- Exterior steps that are wet and slippery from rain or other inclement weather conditions.
- Lack of security personnel or automated systems by the stairway to prevent theft or vandalism.
How can I prove my case after my slip and fall on a stairway?
If you believe your slip and fall on a stairway cannot be blamed on your clumsiness but rather on a property owner’s negligence, you must file a personal injury claim against them. As the plaintiff of such a claim, you must prove their negligence in the following ways:
- You must prove you were a welcomed visitor on the property owner’s premises at the time of your eventual incident.
- You must prove the property owner should have reasonably known about a potentially dangerous condition on their stairway.
- You must prove the property owner should have rectified this potentially dangerous condition within a reasonable timeframe.
- You must prove the property owner did not block off the potentially dangerous stairway from public use in the meantime.
- You must prove you used the stairway without receiving the proper warnings beforehand.
- You must prove you slipped and fell on the stairway and incurred bodily injuries as a result.
- You must prove your incurred bodily injuries led to significant economic and non-economic damages.
If you are unsure of the next step, turn to a skilled Tampa slip and fall lawyer for guidance. Our team at Merricks Law Group, P.A. will jump in whenever you give us the word.
