Myrtle Beach Premises Liability Lawyer
Property owners who invite others on to their premises are required to take steps to ensure that those visitors are safe. This includes a responsibility to keep an eye out for hazardous conditions and to repair those issues as soon as possible. Besides keeping their visitors safe from slip and fall accidents, however, property owners must also help protect them from becoming the victims of crime by keeping stairwells and parking lots well-lit and placing security cameras in dangerous areas. Owners that fail to fulfill these obligations can be held liable by injured visitors, who, with the help of an experienced Myrtle Beach premises liability lawyer, could recover compensation for their accident-related losses.
What Qualifies as a Slip and Fall Accident?
The term “slip and fall accident” is used to describe a general category of accidents that occur on someone else’s property. Most do, in fact, involve slipping and falling, perhaps on a spill, or a recently mopped floor, but other accidents could occur due to tripping on uneven flooring, or stray electrical cords and wires. Others might not even be caused by a defect in the floor itself, but are the result of a broken handrail, or poor lighting. Furthermore, not all slip and fall accidents occur inside. Many happen on sidewalks and in parking lots due to potholes, cracks in the pavement, crumbling asphalt, or the presence of snow or ice. Hazards can be temporary, like a spill, or more permanent, like broken floorboards. The cause of an accident may not even be apparent at first, which is why it’s so important to take photographs of the scene of the accident before the property owner has time to clean or repair the problem.
What is Negligent Security?
A slip and fall accident isn’t the only way that a person can be injured on someone else’s property. For instance, a property owner could put visitors at risk by failing to protect them from becoming the victims of crime. In these situations, a property owner who failed to take reasonable steps to protect a visitor, could be held liable for negligent security. These kinds of cases often involve hotels, bars and nightclubs, parking lots and garages, gas stations, and shopping centers, where it is more likely that someone will be the victim of a theft. A lot of criminal activity in a certain area could also justify the taking of additional steps, like installing security cameras, hiring a security guard, or installing flood lights in stairwells and parking lots. A failure to do so could result in serious injuries and open the property owner up to liability.
Contact Our Team of Dedicated Myrtle Beach Premises Liability Lawyers
To establish your right to compensation after a slip and fall accident, or after becoming the victim of a violent crime on someone else’s property, you’ll need convincing evidence of that person’s negligence. This could include everything from video footage and eyewitness statements to accident reports and photos from the scene of the accident. For help compiling the evidence you’ll need to pursue your own legal claim, call The Stanley Law Group and set up a meeting with one of our dedicated Myrtle Beach premises liability lawyers today.
