Have You Fallen At An Atlanta Restaurant?
When you go out to eat, the last thing you may be thinking about is tripping and falling. However, that might be just what’s on the menu. Restaurants often have cramped dining areas bustling with servers, platters filled with possible liabilities from hot soup to steak knives, and distracted guests, making them a veritable obstacle course for personal injury claims. Of all the potential injuries that could occur in a venue that contains hot vats of oil and serves alcohol, you may be surprised to learn the most common: slip-and-fall accidents.
Slip-and-Fall Restaurant Accidents
Slips and falls are fairly common in restaurants. Food and beverages can be dropped or spilled on the floor and can easily go unnoticed. Freshly washed floors can be slippery, and hidden or less-than-obvious stairs or uneven floors may result in tripping and falling customers. Interestingly, the most common cause of trip-and-fall restaurant injuries is not even inside of a restaurant. Rather, most slip-and-fall injuries at restaurants happen in their parking lots or on their sidewalks leading up to the restaurant. This is generally due to even ground, broken pavement, or potholes. Such hazards can result in broken or sprained bones, concussions, and other injuries.
Slip-and-Fall Restaurant Injuries
Slip-and-fall injuries can be very serious. In fact, slip-and-fall injuries are the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries, which can be anything ranging from a concussion to brain hemorrhage or death. Traumatic brain injuries often have long-lasting consequences and can even result in permanent personality changes and damage to the cervical spine. Other injuries include broken and fractured bones. This is particularly true of the elderly, who are susceptible to hip fractures. Hip fractures are known as the most serious of fractures and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to treat.
When Can You Hold a Restaurant Liable for a Trip-and-Fall Accident?
Restaurants are not liable for every trip and fall that happens in or around them. Rather, restaurants are responsible for maintaining safe premises and remedying or warning or any known hazards. This means that if there is a hazard that could cause a fall, such as a wet floor or a hidden step, the restaurant must either remedy it by drying the floor or leveling out the step or warning you of it, such as by putting out a “wet floor” sign or hanging a “watch your step” sign. If the restaurant failed to take such action and you were injured as a result, you can hold them liable for your injury. You hold a restaurant liable by bringing a personal injury lawsuit. A successful personal injury lawsuit aims to restore you to the position you would have been in had the injury never occurred.
Talk to an Atlanta Personal Injury Attorney
If you have been injured in a slip-and-fall accident in Atlanta, Dunwoody, Alpharetta, Cobb County, Fulton County, Gwinnett County, Johns Creek, Sandy Springs, or the greater Georgia area, Hawkins Spizman Trial Attorneys want to talk to you. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with our Fulton County personal injury lawyers.
Resource:
nfsi.org/nfsi-research/quick-facts/