Every week, millions of New Jersey residents visit their local supermarkets looking to purchase the groceries they need at home. During these trips, they can expect to purchase all their necessities and perhaps even be pleasantly surprised if some of them are on sale.
What nobody ever expects is for their regular shopping trip to turn into a tragic experience. Unfortunately, this is often the case for persons that suffer slip and falls at their local grocer.
These incidents are more common than you can imagine; likewise, the physical and mental suffering that these victims face is truly devastating not only for individuals but for entire families.
Below, our slip and fall attorneys have expanded on how these horrible incidents manifest themselves, and how what seemed to be an accidental fall can actually be a direct result of negligence on behalf of the supermarket staff and owner.
When one thinks of a supermarket, the first things that often come to our mind are squeaky shopping carts, jam-packed produce aisles, the smell of the seafood counter, and shiny waxed floors. Seemingly harmless and commonplace, the last of these is often the cause of slipping and falling injuries.
The floors encountered in grocery stores are often non-porous surfaces that are regularly waxed not only to keep them shiny but also to make them easy to clean. If anything happens to spill, a common occurrence in any supermarket, it can easily be mopped up.
Unfortunately, aside from making stores look attractive and clean, these waxed floors can become a huge hazard for slipping. Indeed, when any kind of liquid or object comes in between the non-slip sole of a shoe and the floor, a person's feet are quick to fall out from underneath them. The resulting fall is often quite violent, producing severe injuries, given that the victim is generally distracted by shelves full of colorful products and hardly ever looking down to watch where they are stepping.
Some of the most common injuries suffered in grocery slip and falls include:
These kinds of injuries aren't benign. As we mentioned earlier, this is the kind of trauma that can result in tens of thousands in medical bills as well as permanent disability.
In addition to slip hazards, any kind of damaged flooring or even loose wiring can lead to tripping accidents which can themselves cause equally severe injuries.
In an effort to avoid these tragic incidents from taking place in their stores, supermarkets have implemented some significant measures. These include anti-slip mats near produce sections, consistent monitoring of aisles for slip or other hazards, and even cameras for broad surveillance.
Regrettably, supermarkets are often large properties and stores rarely have enough staff to monitor absolutely every section of them. Even when there's plenty of staff, employees have other tasks that consume their time and attention, making it almost impossible to supervise and deal with hazards as soon as they arise.
The persons who suffer the most in these incidents, the victims themselves, need to know that they have powerful legal options at their disposal.
While their injuries may have seemed like an accident, there are plenty of cases were the store managers and owners could have done significantly more to guard the health and safety of their patrons. As a result, if negligence on behalf of those in charge of the facilities, then victims may be awarded substantial monetary compensation.
For instance, the recent victim of one of these falls in a ShopRite supermarket was awarded a $1.5 million settlement after requiring substantial surgical procedures following a fall that occurred on the premises.
The trauma suffered by victims is very real, as is the option to fight against those whose negligence resulted in the same. If your life has been turned upside down by one of these incidents, reach out to our experienced team of attorneys to schedule your free consultation.
In this no-obligation consult, you'll be able to discuss the exact legal avenues available to you. Whether you choose to pursue a legal claim or not, you'll be able to rest easy knowing that you had all of the relevant legal information in front of you before making such a critical decision for yourself and your loved ones.
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For additional legal resource, visit our next page: Premises Liability and Falling Accidents in New Jersey
