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Indianapolis winters are known for being cold and long, but not necessarily sparkling and white. Unfortunately, the winter temperatures tend to warm up just enough to let the snow melt, then drop to freezing as the sun sets so the water turns to ice overnight. Freezing rain and sleet are not unheard of, either. Even if nature brings the ice, property owners have a duty to clear the ice to keep pedestrians from being harmed on icy sidewalks.
When they do not do it, or do it well enough and people are injured, an Indianapolis icy sidewalk injury lawyer is ready to help determine what the plaintiff could recover.
While pedestrians have a duty to avoid what are known as “open and obvious dangers,” ice can be deceptive. Black ice can be difficult to see and even more difficult to avoid once someone has stepped on it. Further, ice is not always uniformly covering the sidewalk, and if it is covered with snow, it may not be apparent to the pedestrian until it is too late.
Fortunately, property owners have a duty to keep their property clear of any unavoidable or foreseeable hazards that could hurt people. A giant patch of thick ice across the handicapped entrance of a business is an unavoidable danger because the handicapped will be forced to traverse it. Foreseeable dangers include hazards that do not exist right now but could be assumed to exist if the conditions were right. A clogged roof gutter that drips onto a walkway is not a danger in the afternoon when the temperature is 40°F, but as night comes, it is foreseeable that the puddle will freeze into a patch of ice and still be there the next morning.
Private property owners, or the tenants or occupants, have a legal duty to keep the sidewalks in front of their home or building clear of ice for pedestrian use. However, they only must clear it as is reasonable and practical to do so, meaning that no one is required to stay outside shoveling in a blizzard or pouring salt when there is a windchill of negative 30 degrees.
If snow falls or keeps falling after 7:00 P.M., owners, occupants, and tenants must clear the snow and ice before 9:00 A.M. the next day. Even though this rule is often ignored, it exists for the good of the people because no should be forced to walk in the street (which is more dangerous), or to trespass on private property in order to avoid hazards left on the sidewalk, like ice.
A lawyer in Indianapolis could further explain how an icy sidewalk injury led to compensable damages and then discuss how to recover compensation for all relevant injuries.
Icy sidewalk injury claims have a two-year limit in most cases, but claims made against city, county, or state buildings will have less than a year to be filed before they bar you from recovering anything. Let McCready Law’s personal injury legal team help you in this situation. Consult an Indianapolis icy sidewalk injury lawyer now to find out if you have a claim from which you can recover damages to compensate for your losses.