When a person owns their own business, they have certain legal obligations. This can include keeping the premises safe so that they do not cause harm to any visitors who come onto their property. This can be done with routine inspections and fixing any hazards as they arise. The failure to do so can result in accidents that have the potential to cause life-changing injuries to visitors. When this happens, the injured parties can pursue legal action through premises liability law. Continue reading below to learn more.
What are the Three Legal Classes of Visitors?
Visitors are classified in three ways under premises liability law. This includes:
- Invitee: A person who is invited onto a property. When it is on a business’ property, the invitation is to exchange business for mutual benefit.
- Licensee: A person who comes onto a property for personal reasons, not to business or commercial, purposes. This may be a person invited to a house for dinner. Business visitors are usually invitees, not licensees.
- Trespasser: A person who is on a property without invitation, violating trespassing laws. This may be a customer refuses to leave when they are asked or a burglar.
What are Common Causes of Injury Claims?
There are several ways that an accident can happen at a business. Common causes of these accidents can include:
- Slippery surfaces: Rain, ice, spills, wet or waxed floors, etc. can cause slip and fall accidents.
- Faulty stairs and escalators: Broken railings, slippery steps, and mechanical failures can cause stairwell, elevator, and/or escalator accidents.
- Falling merchandise: Falling objects can cause harm to both employees as well as customers.
- Physical obstacles: Inadequately placed electrical cords, protruding furniture, floor mats or door moldings, door stops, fallen merchandise, etc.
- Inadequate lighting: Customers may not notice curbs, physical obstructions, steps, potholes, etc. without the proper lighting.
- Parking lots: Parking lots can be dangerous in the event of concrete car stops, potholes, misdirected cars, uneven pavement, poor signage, construction, criminal activity, etc.
- Sidewalks: Broken, cracked, or uneven sidewalks can cause sidewalk accidents. While business owners are typically not responsible for sidewalks that are controlled by the government, they can be liable for those that are adjacent to their business.
- Food poisoning: Customers can get sick due to poor food handling, poor storage, or the transmission of disease from employees.
Contact our Firm
Our firm understands how serious criminal and personal injury cases are. We are prepared to guide you towards a favorable outcome because we believe false accusations or preventable injuries should never cause a person harm. This is why those who require experienced legal counsel in New Jersey should do themselves a favor and contact The Law Office of Andrew S. Maze today for any criminal and personal injury matters.