Florida Injury Lawyer Blog
Miami and North Miami Beach Law Firm Serving Accident Victims Suffering Personal Injury on Stairs, Steps, and Ramps in Miami.
According to a recent study, over 1 million Americans suffer personal injuries from accidents involving stairs, steps, ramps. This is a whopping figure when you consider that most of these accidents include individuals of all ages, despite the elderly and toddlers among the most at risk. Stairs, steps, and ramps are practically everywhere in Miami; in hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, supermarkets, apartment buildings, practically anywhere people need to go and down. According to Florida Premises Liability laws, property owners and those responsible for private or public establishments, are legally liable for any accidents resulting in personal injury brought on by improper maintenance, operating conditions, or unsafe standards which may cause an individual to slip, trip, or fall on said premises. Stairs, steps, and ramps must be kept free of any obstacle, liquid, object, substance, etc., that may lead to someone falling and hurting themselves. The property owner or responsible party may be legally liable to cover any, if not all, medical costs, lost wages, etc., as a result of their negligence to provide safe stairs, steps, or ramps on their premises.
It is the responsibility of architects, engineers, contractors, and masons to make sure stairs, steps, and ramps are properly built in terms of uniformity, elevation and inclination. Steps or staircases that are uneven or ramps that are too steep, can represent risk of injury to the elderly and to those suffering from physical or mental challenges. Vertigo, for example, can cause an elderly person to lose their balance and go tumbling down a flight of stairs, with the results being multiple fractures or even wrongful death.