Dangerous Property

Dangerous property creates the risk of serious injury for individuals and the risk of premises liability for the property owner. Premises liability allows for the owner of the property to be legally responsible for people that suffer injury due to a dangerous condition. A premise liability lawsuit can allow seriously injured victims to receive financial compensation for their injuries, including: medical expenses, pain and suffering and lost wages. Serious injuries that occur on dangerous property include: broken bones, spinal cord injury, brain injury and death.

Dangerous property hazards may be caused by the owner, a company that performs(ed) work on the premise and/or the materials used on the premise. Injuries may occur because of a defective building and surrounding area, parking lot, or home, as follows:

• Sidewalks or flooring that is uneven or cracked
• Sidewalks or flooring that is slippery, wet, oily or icy
• Sidewalks or pavement with potholes, open or cracked manholes or ditches

• Stairs that are uneven or not constructed properly
• Stair rails that are not properly fastened or are missing
• Escalator malfunction

• Poor or missing lighting in hallways, lobbies, and parking lots
• Poor designation for marked parking lots that causes car accidents
• Faulty security in building and parking lots that leads to a physical or sexual assault on a victim
• Failure of a premise owner to properly guard against or warn about a hazard
• Dog Bite injuries

Chicago, Hammond, Highland, Munster and all of Chicagoland and the Indiana counties of Porter and Lake have at least one thing in common, our terrible winters-snow and ice make for terrible and dangerous conditions. Indiana Law is quite specific, the court in the case of Hammond v. Allegretti, a Supreme Court Case from 1974 held that a business owes its customers (invitees) the duty to use reasonable care in the removal of snow and ice. If you are injured in Indiana due to snow or icy conditions, you should, if possible, take pictures or have someone else take pictures of where you fell as soon as you can. It is important to obtain photographic proof of the condition of the premises before the owner can remove the snow or it melts. An attorney should be contacted promptly so that he or she can inspect the premises and send out letters to surrounding property owners so that security camera videos can be obtained.

Icy conditions require drivers to be more careful than usual. Speed limits may be posted for 35 miles per hour. However, with snow and ice, 20 miles per hour may be too fast for conditions and be a basis for liability. Again, it cannot be stressed enough that a victim of this kind of weather related injury should contact an attorney promptly and take photos or possibly videos before the ice or snow melts.

Call Burton Padove for a free consultation at 219-836-2200 or 877-446-5294 for nationwide callers. Visit todayslawalert.com to view Burton Padove’s blog.