Legal Help for Stairway Accidents – Start Here

It’s estimated that there are over a million stairway accidents every year, and that stairway accidents are the second most dangerous ones in the country, after car accidents. If you live in an apartment block or high rise, you’ll have to contend with walking up and down stairways every day. Some stairway accidents are attributed to carelessness or being distracted, but quite a number are due to the negligence of another person, specifically the landlord or property owner.

Defective Stairways – Landlord Owner’s Duty of Care

Defective stairways should be fixed by property owners in a timely manner. If they are aware of the problem, and didn’t reasonably act to fix the issue once alerted by a tenant, they can be said to be negligent. In addition, stairways, by virtue of receiving a lot of foot traffic and being the recipient of a lot of wear and tear should be regularly maintained, at least once or twice a year. On top of that, property owners should follow proper state building codes with regard to safety when constructing these, and they should material that is sturdy to construct stairways.

Here are some of the potential scenarios that lead to stairway accidents:

Missing handrails which can make it impossible for tenants to fall down a flight of stairs.
Exposed splinters or nails puncturing the soles of tenants’ shoes, causing bleeding and infections.
Loose carpeting causing tenants to slip and fall down the stairs
Poor lighting along stairways leading to falls
Objects left on the stairs causing people to step on them and lose their footing.
Rotten wood which gives way, causing a person’s leg to get stuck in the stairway.
Inoperable or unsafe fire exits, leading to accidents when tenants attempt to exit the building on account of a fire.

Stairway Accidents – Serious Health Consequences

People don’t realize how dangerous stairway accidents are dangerous until they become unwitting victims. Falling down as flight of stairs can end up in broken backs and necks, causing paralysis and death. In addition, internal organ damage has been known to occur, and can lead to someone bleeding out if the injury isn’t treated in a timely manner such as in the case of an accident happening in the dead of the night.