If you have been in a slip-and-fall accident while on store property, the store owner’s negligence may have contributed to or caused your accident. New York and Pennsylvania store owners have a responsibility to maintain their properties so that their customers can shop safely, without risk of injury. When a store owner fails to properly maintain their property, a dangerous condition on the premises may result in a slip-and-fall accident.
However, it can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for store owners to keep their stores in pristine condition without taking extraordinary steps to do so. That is why the law only requires store owners to take reasonable steps to maintain their property.
What is considered reasonable care?
In order to determine what is reasonable, courts will compare a storeowner’s actions to what a reasonable store owner would do under similar circumstances. Generally, store owners are required to implement inspection and maintenance procedures based on industry standards and tailored to their specific property. Store owners are then required to follow those procedures.
You can prove that an owner did not take reasonable steps to maintain the property by establishing:
- You were a business invitee (customer), licensee or social guest, not a trespasser.
- The owner knew or should have known about a dangerous condition on the property.
- The owner failed to properly inspect the property.
- The owner failed to fix the dangerous condition or warn of the dangerous condition.
A personal injury attorney can help you file a premises liability claim against a store owner and establish that they did not exercise reasonable care when maintaining their property. If your case is successful, you may recover damages to cover your medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering and other expenses related to the accident.