Slips on Ice

Posted on December 6, 2007 by Jason Fernandez

As I walked down the escalator at my neighborhood Metro station and sipped my morning green tea, I slipped on wet stairs and slid down the escalator about 10 feet.  Fortunately, other than my embarrassment, some spilled tea, and arriving late to work, I suffered only some minor bruises and aches.

When I got to the office, some of my co-workers asked if I had notified Metro and filled out an accident report. I did not. The reason -- I knew that Metro was not responsible for my particular accident. When walking in rain, snow, or any wet-conditions, it is my responsibility to be as careful as possible.

Every year, I receive phone calls from people seeking consultations and advice for accidents involving slips on snow and ice. The vast majority of these cases are rejected. It is extremely difficult to prove that some person is responsible for the results of weather. The District of Columbia has repeatedly upheld decisions favoring landlords and/or property managers when people slipped on ice on their property. Why? It's simply too difficult to prove that the person(s) is/are liable.

In order for liability to be demonstrated, a person must either know or should have known that a danger exists. Since ice and moisture can appear suddenly, the burden is on the plaintiff to show that the appropriate person was notified of the dangerous condition and failed to act reasonably within a reasonable period of time.

The best advice is simply to watch and be careful. I will definitely be wearing the snow boots I had from my mid-western winter days on my way to work tomorrow.

To learn more about premises liability or slips and falls, please see our website at premises liability.  To learn more about our personal injury lawyers, please click on personal injury lawyers maryland and read our firm bios on Andrew Bederman, Roger Greenberg, or Jason Fernandez.

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