New York City is a busy place where people often need to maneuver through crowds. It can be difficult to see the sidewalk and avoid dangerous conditions. In some cases, trip and falls are caused by a negligent property owner or the city. Sidewalk accidents and falls can result in injuries such as broken bones, lacerations, fractures, concussions, disc damage, and soft tissue injuries. They may be the fault of more than one entity. If you are injured, you should retain a New York City sidewalk accident lawyer to hold the responsible parties accountable.
Sidewalk Accidents and Falls
In New York, private property owners, both residential and commercial, are required to maintain the sidewalks in front of homes or businesses like grocery stores in a condition that is reasonably safe. This means that they need to take affirmative steps to help prevent dangerous conditions like ice and snow, fix the pavement when it is broken, and fix cobblestones and uneven areas like gratings. They should also make sure that proper precautions are taken when any construction is done on their sidewalk.
A private property owner may be held liable for a dangerous condition that causes injuries if you can show that the defendant knew or should have known about a dangerous condition, it failed to take steps to repair the condition or provide warnings, the dangerous condition was a substantial factor in causing your injuries, and you suffered actual damages as a result. A sidewalk accident attorney in New York City can advise you on whether these elements are likely to be established in your case.
A property owner is not held responsible for a dangerous condition when it neither knew about it nor should have known about it in the exercise of reasonable care. Snow and ice falls c
