Winters in Illinois are known for being brutal. They can bring snow, wind, sleet, and slush not to mention freezing temperatures. Driving can be downright treacherous due to black ice, which can cause a driver to slide, lose control, and crash with other vehicles. Even walking can present its own set of dangers. Ice can cause people to slip and fall, which may result in serious injuries. In other cases, icicles hanging from gutters or roofs may fall onto bystanders below. If you or your loved one was hurt in an accident that involved winter weather, you may be entitled to compensation for your losses or damages.

Illinois Premises Liability

Under the Illinois Premises Liability Act, property owners have a duty of care to maintain their grounds and buildings so they are safe for patrons, visitors, and guests. It is unrealistic for property owners to be expected to keep their land completely free of snow and ice all of the time. However, property owners are tasked with taking steps to prevent injuries caused by the “unnatural accumulation” of snow or ice. This means that property owners are not automatically liable for injuries that are caused by the natural accumulation of this precipitation. If the snow or ice accumulates unnaturally due to improper or inadequate maintenance or repairs, the property owner may be liable for injuries caused by the accumulation.

A property owner may be liable for injuries caused by:

It is easy to mistake footing and trip, but what happens if a slip and fall is caused by property owners’ negligence? Property owners have a responsibility to keep their home or business safe for other invited occupants. A slip and fall may not sound like a big deal, but they can leave permanent damage, or even death, to a victim. If trauma is caused to an individual because of negligence, they may be eligible for compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, and lost wages.

What Is Negligence?

In regards to property, negligence is knowing about or ignoring an issue, that caused a person to get hurt. Property owners, both private and businesses, are expected to keep reasonable maintenance of a property for the safety of invited parties. A personal injury case relies on the plaintiff being able to prove negligence. For example, if a person slips in a grocery store and sustains a head injury, they may have a case for negligence if there was no wet floor warning. Who is allowed on the property is also a contributing factor in whether someone can call negligence. If someone trespasses in an abandoned barn and the floor collapses, and the trespasser obtains a head injury, the property owner would not likely be held liable because the injured person was breaking the law.

A slip and fall can happen anywhere. Whether on private property or in a business, a slip and fall caused by negligence can result in compensation for the injured party to cover medical expenses, suffering, or lost wages. Falls can result in a variety of injuries, and like a car accident, some injuries may not be obvious.

Negligence Explained: When it comes to a slip and fall, if the accident could have been prevented, a property or business owner may be negligent. They may not be aiming for someone to be injured, but it was their lack of action that makes them responsible. This may include wet floors or poor lighting. Even if a property owner was knowledgeable about the danger, they have a minimal obligation to post a warning or barrier. Negligence is a key factor in winning a slip and fall case.

After experiencing a slip and fall on someone else’s property, you may not know where to turn. It is important to act quickly for the statute of limitations in Illinois for slip and falls is only two years. Follow these guidelines for after experiencing a fall because of another’s negligence.

Winter conditions make functioning daily more dangerous. Slips and falls are one of the most common accidents and they can result in a variety of injuries from scrapes and bruises to breaks and fractures. What is important in a lawsuit following a slip and fall is negligence on behalf of the property owner. This can be a business, private property, or public government property that you fall on.

What Is Negligence

Negligence is when a person could have done something about a situation, failed to do so, and a person got injured because of that failure. A couple examples of negligence are:

• A driver going significantly over the speed limit and gets in a car accident;
• An accidental overdose of medicine administered by a health provider; and
• A business not mopping up a spill and someone falls.

Surfaces became slicker during winter. Snow and ice can accumulate and ice can be hidden under both, so it is important that property and business owners put an effort in to make walkways safe. Efforts that can be made are removing snow and eliminating ice with rock salt.

In our firm’s 10 years of representing clients, one misconception that comes up regularly is that if you fall on someone else’s property, you have a viable lawsuit against them. This is not the law in Illinois, and slip and fall accidents can be much more difficult to prove.

The Deciding Factor on If You Can Recover Damages

Often the fact that determines if you have a case is if you can prove if the condition that caused your fall was known or should have been known to the property owner/occupier. In some cases, you can prove that the property owner knew about the dangerous condition and did not fix it. For example, you may be able to get video surveillance footage of a store employee mopping and not putting out warning signs.