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Personal injury is a term where a broad spectrum of injuries is covered. The most frequent cause for a personal injury is a car accident. But you can be injured while walking, climbing stairs or just plain tripping on something left behind. Let’s talk about slips and falls when it comes to personal injury.
Here is a scenario: You very wisely bought winter boots with a deep tread pattern for maximum stability on snow. Two days ago, there was a snow storm that left about 6 inches of snow on the ground. Today, you have an errand to run in town. Thank goodness there is a parking place just down the street from the shop you need to go into. As you are carefully walking down the sidewalk, which has been cleared of snow, you slip and fall on an icy segment of the sidewalk in front of another store, breaking your hip. This is personal injury. Who is responsible for maintaining the sidewalk in front of the store is a matter that might need to be decided by town ordinances.
Another scenario might be: You are visiting your neighbor for a cup of coffee and some gossip. As you are leaving, you walk down their front steps. One of the risers has been loose for a while now. Your neighbor meant to fix it, but just never got around to it. The riser takes this time to give out and down you go, cracking your kneecap. This is a personal injury. The responsible party would be your neighbor.
A frequent scenario for slips and falls is: You are grocery shopping. Walking aisle after aisle you walk down the aisle where they have the olives. Unbeknown to you, a jar of olives fell, broke open and was mopped up by a store employee. The store employee just finished cleaning up the mess and left the aisle as you started walking down that aisle. The employee forgot to put out a “wet floor” warning sign. You walk over that wet area, slip and fall. Your injuries are not serious, but you have a bruised coccyx which will make sitting comfortably impossible for a while. It might even affect your job since you are a secretary and need to sit for long periods of time. This is a personal injury and the store would be responsible.
It’s easy to see how slips and falls would be personal injuries. Any questions about responsibility should be discussed with your attorney.