Every year, thousands of people experience severe pain and complications after falling on wet floors, unstable stairwells, and uneven surfaces. In some cases where the location is away from the sufferer’s own property, it may not be the fault of the one who fell, at least not entirely. Whoever is to blame depends on how those surfaces got into those conditions and how conscious the person was of them leading up to the incident.

If someone consciously caused the area where you fell to get the way it was when you fell, or neglected to do their best to fix it upon noticing it so you could avoid the problem, you may be able to hold them accountable. There are a number of factors that can influence fault in these types of situations. For example:

  1. it was really necessary for you to be at that place at that time
  2. you saw an implication of danger and proceeded as cautiously as possible
  3. there was no clearly visible forewarning
  4. you were making no intense physical motions that would increase your odds of getting hurt, then you may be a totally innocent victim of someone else’s carelessness.

If the location’s owner is going to be punished for your injury, the court must see evidence that:

  1. they were aware of how messy the area was
  2. they don’t regularly clean up
  3. they had something unnecessary sitting out or set up there
  4. the area could’ve easily been cleared for better safety
  5. there was one alternative place or another where each applicable item could’ve been securely stored
  6. the area was extremely difficult to see
  7. you can answer “yes” to all the questions listed in the last paragraph.