Parking Lot Re-Pave Caused Me to Fall
FAQ,Premises Liability,Slip and Fall - August 31, 2015 by Horwitz, Horwitz & Associates
Question:
My apartment complex paved our parking lot and didn’t provide a way to get out of the parking lot on a safe surface. Every section except ours was done in sections, allowing for people to walk on a safe surface. When leaving very early in the AM for work, we had to get to the HS parking lot they told us to park in.
Leaving our apt, I tried to walk on the grass, but it was too wet and I was afraid I would fall (ironically). I walked on the cement gutter area until it ended, then I had to walk on the new blacktop. After 4 or 5 steps, I hit a bad area and fell very hard. Luckily my husband was in front of me and he was carrying the baby instead of me.
I couldn’t get up and I tried three times. My husband had to help me up, and I had that black stuff all over my shoes, heels, pants, and jacket. I went back in to change, and had a hard time walking up the steps. I had the camera in my jacket pocket, and took a few pictures on my way back out to the car (parked on the road immediately outside the big gate, a foot away from where I fell). It hurt to turn the steering wheel a lot on the way to work… so I began to worry. I thought perhaps it would improve throughout the day.
I have bad back pain and some intermittent pain in my leg, and very very bad headaches. I never had headaches before…maybe once a year. I can’t even reach for something without pain. I went to the ER that night, at the recommendation of my doctor’s office. Nothing is broken or fractured, and I’m not sure what all the X-rays show. I’ll see my Doctor on Thursday.
I couldn’t go to work the day after and I’m afraid I’m always going to have problems now. I have a pretty high threshold for pain, so I try to force myself to care for my son as I usually do and I just bear down on my teeth. I have to care for my son, because what other option do I have? My husband can’t quit his job to help me, because we need his paycheck to get by. We barely get by now. Help.
–Maggie, Oceanside, CA
Leaving our apt, I tried to walk on the grass, but it was too wet and I was afraid I would fall (ironically). I walked on the cement gutter area until it ended, then I had to walk on the new blacktop. After 4 or 5 steps, I hit a bad area and fell very hard. Luckily my husband was in front of me and he was carrying the baby instead of me.
I couldn’t get up and I tried three times. My husband had to help me up, and I had that black stuff all over my shoes, heels, pants, and jacket. I went back in to change, and had a hard time walking up the steps. I had the camera in my jacket pocket, and took a few pictures on my way back out to the car (parked on the road immediately outside the big gate, a foot away from where I fell). It hurt to turn the steering wheel a lot on the way to work… so I began to worry. I thought perhaps it would improve throughout the day.
I have bad back pain and some intermittent pain in my leg, and very very bad headaches. I never had headaches before…maybe once a year. I can’t even reach for something without pain. I went to the ER that night, at the recommendation of my doctor’s office. Nothing is broken or fractured, and I’m not sure what all the X-rays show. I’ll see my Doctor on Thursday.
I couldn’t go to work the day after and I’m afraid I’m always going to have problems now. I have a pretty high threshold for pain, so I try to force myself to care for my son as I usually do and I just bear down on my teeth. I have to care for my son, because what other option do I have? My husband can’t quit his job to help me, because we need his paycheck to get by. We barely get by now. Help.
–Maggie, Oceanside, CA
Answer:
When somebody engages in construction and in doing so interferes with the normal means of ingress or egress (traffic), then it is incumbent upon them to provide a safe means of ingress and ingress. It sounds like the complex provided that means for every part of the complex except your section. Therefore, I think you should file a negligence claim against them. Here is a resources on the types of negligence and what it means in personal injury cases. California is a great state with laws that protect its citizens against corporate injustice.
Hire a California personal injury trial lawyer to prosecute your case. I believe that is your only option.
Hire a California personal injury trial lawyer to prosecute your case. I believe that is your only option.
