Buffalo's Top Rated Injury Attorneys for Slip and Fall Accidents Caused by Inadequate Lighting

Jed Dietrich, Esq. and His Highly Qualified Team of Lawyers at the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. Take Aggressive Legal Action to Obtain the Maximum Compensation for Victims of Slip and Fall Accidents due to Poor Lighting in Buffalo, New York.

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According to the National Safety Council (NSC), falls are the second leading cause of accidental deaths throughout the United States. In a recent year alone, over 42,100 victims suffered fatal falls. Unfortunately, one of the biggest reasons for slip and fall accidents is poor lighting. Lack of lighting plays a substantial role in falls at locations such as restaurants, shopping centers, hotels, office buildings, warehouses, and parking garages. Suppose that you were walking to your car in a poorly lit parking lot late at night. On the way to your car, you trip and fall over a glass bottle. You suffer a broken wrist, fractured hip, and several deep lacerations, which make working impossible. Although you are not able to earn money, your hospital bills and physical therapy expenses are beginning to pile up. Property owners and managers are legally obligated to provide for the safety of all patrons, guests, and employees by ensuring suitable lighting. If a building is too dark to see the stairs, you have a higher risk of falling. When a property owner breaches their duty of care and someone gets hurt, that victim has the right to pursue both economic and non-economic damages.

The Dietrich Law Firm P.C.’s elite Buffalo personal injury lawyers realize the physical and emotional pain that you may be suffering after your tragic slip and fall. Our battle-tested attorneys are here to provide you with the peace of mind needed so that you can focus on recovering. Jed Dietrich, Esq., applauded as a Best Attorney of America, founded the Dietrich Law Firm P.C., in 2005, with a mission to provide accident victims with the highest standard of personal injury representation. Please, contact the Dietrich Law Firm P.C.’s best-of-the-best today at (716) 839-3939 or by completing our online consultation form. We provide complimentary case evaluations and consultations and are fully committed to supporting you at every step of your case.

Common Causes of Insufficient Lighting Accidents

Even the best-designed buildings need suitable lighting to ensure a reasonable level of safety. Regretfully, not every business or property owner makes safety a high enough priority. Nearly three-fourths of slip and fall accidents can be attributed to unsafe environments and dangerous conditions. All too often, victims fall because inadequate lighting prevents them from noticing a hazard that could have been avoided with adequate lighting. Insufficient lighting not only creates a serious fall risk on its own but can also conceal other hazards, like broken handrails and debris on stairs. Consequently, poor lighting, especially around stairways, slippery flooring, inclines, declines, areas cluttered with objects, and places with irregular flooring, often leads to devastating slip and falls. Some examples of negligent and irresponsible practices regarding lighting include:

1. Failing to effectively tailor the lighting style to fit the needs of the specific place;
2. Focusing too much on the interior while ignoring outdoor walkways and parking lots;
3. Ignoring lighting-related safety concerns from guests or employees;
4. Not having emergency generators and backup lights;
5. Failing to clean dirty light fixtures;
6. Neglecting to install proper lighting wherever needed;
7. Failing to turn on the lights in a movie theater or night-time business when patrons are arriving or leaving;
8. Not replacing burned-out or broken light bulbs promptly;
9. Dimming the lights to save electricity; and
10. Turning off the lights in a building before all of the people inside exited.

Establishing Liability for Your Dim Lighting Slip and Fall

As previously mentioned, property owners have a legal duty to maintain their properties in a reasonably safe manner. Suppose that poor lighting was the cause of your slip and fall accident. You might be entitled to recover damages if you can prove that the owner’s negligence played a role in the poor lighting. Property owners and businesses can be found negligent for either failing to take the appropriate actions when needed, such as neglecting to change a light, or for implementing irresponsible measures, like turning off the lights on patrons. To show that the responsible party should be held liable for your injuries, the Dietrich Law Firm’s top rated Buffalo personal injury lawyers will demonstrate the following:

1. Duty of Care: The property owner was required to make all reasonable efforts to keep you from getting hurt.
2. Breach of Duty: The owner did nothing to remedy the inadequate lighting that they knew of or should have known about. Even if management did not know about the poor lighting, they should have found the discrepancy during a routine inspection.
3. The Breach Caused Your Fall: The owner’s breach of duty was a proximate cause of the harm you suffered.
4. You Suffered Actual Damages: Your slip and fall accident caused you actual injuries or damage.

Most falls that result from inadequate lighting are easily preventable. Prior complaints of falls on the property can help demonstrate poor maintenance, especially if the owner failed to take corrective measures. Perhaps the lighting was insufficient compared to the lights in similar businesses or locations. Regardless of the reason, property owners and managers with inadequate lighting must take proper steps to correct it, even if that entails installing additional light fixtures. Otherwise, they can be held liable for your resulting injuries in a premises liability lawsuit.

Slip and fall accidents regularly involve devastating injuries and other damages that need to be effectively proven and successfully negotiated by an exceedingly skilled lawyer. The sooner that you hire the Dietrich Law Firm P.C., the faster our seasoned team can begin gathering vital evidence to start building a compelling case. Evidence commonly includes prior accident reports, inspection logbooks, receipts of previous repairs regarding lighting issues, witness statements, photos of the poor lighting conditions, and security camera footage. The Dietrich Law Firm P.C.’s highly experienced attorneys will do everything possible to obtain the compensation that you deserve. The Dietrich Law Firm P.C.’s battle-tested team offers free, no-obligation lawsuit evaluations and consultations. We would be honored to discuss your potential case further. Our best-of-the-best team is available 24/7 at (716) 839-3939 or by filling out the online consultation form.

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Call the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. immediately at (716) 839-3939 so that our aggressive, tenacious and hardworking personal injury lawyers can fight to obtain the best result for your personal injury claim in Buffalo, New York. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and there is never a fee until we WIN for you!

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