If a person owns a piece of property or business, they are responsible for keeping it reasonably clean and free of hazards.
If you or a family member is injured or killed on someone else’s property, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries or pain and suffering.
A landowner has a duty of care to ensure their property is free of hazards that could cause injury to unsuspecting visitors. If they are unable to do so, they must post appropriate signage alerting their guests of the hazard, and thus minimizing the potential for injury.
Explaining Premises Liability Law
The most common type of premises-related injury is slipping, tripping, or falling on someone else’s property. This could be the result of someone slipping on an icy stair, losing their footing on uneven ground, or a whole host of other incidents.
Other incidents that fall under premises liability law include:
- near-drownings and drownings;
- burns caused by explosions, fires, or electricity from faulty wiring;
- animal attacks and bites;
- exposure to toxic substances; and
- escalator and elevator accidents.
If you are a trespasser entering another person’s property and get injured, you are still owed the landowner’s duty of responsibility. However, this duty is much less than if an invited guest was to be injured. Hazard signs must still be posted to warn trespassers of the dangers on the property, but if you are injured in any way, the landowner will not be required to compensate you.
In the event the trespasser is a child, the attractive nuisance doctrine protects them from facing consequences. If your child entered a property because they saw an object or structure that caught their interest but were too young to fully comprehend the risk, their injuries can be compensated by the land owner.
These include:
- pools;
- abandoned vehicles;
- trampolines; and
- basketball courts.
Liability Factors
If you’ve been injured on another person’s property, the Kentucky court system requires 5 elements of evidence if you hope to win your case.
These elements are:
- the property owner owed a duty to protect the alleged victim;
- the property owner breached said duty;
- the breach was the cause of the victim’s injury;
- the breach led to the resulting injury; and
- there is evidence of the injury.
It can be challenging to prove you were injured as the result of an accident on someone else’s property. For this reason, it’s important you consult with a premises liability lawyer who can help you navigate the process.
Contact the Law Office of Pamela C. Bratcher for a Free Consultation
If you are in the Bowling Green area and recently suffered an injury on someone else’s property, our attorney has you covered. At the Law Office of Pamela C. Bratcher, we treat every client like family and will do what it takes to help you seek full compensation for the pain and suffering caused by your injury.
Call our firm at (270) 783-8311 or contact us online for a FREE case evaluation.