Slip and Fall Dangers for the Elderly

Silverman, McDonald & Friedman provides representation for injury clients from our offices in Seaford, Newcastle, and Wilmington, and throughout Delaware. If you have suffered an injury on someone else’s property, contact us for a free case review.

Slip and fall incidents are dangerous for any person, but even more so for the elderly. An unfortunate fact is that older individuals tend to suffer slip and fall injuries more frequently than younger people. A relatively minor slip and fall that results in a minor injury can create significant difficulties for an elderly person. Older persons often take longer to heal and the injuries they suffered can produce greater complications.

One unique statistic that demonstrates the risks posed to senior citizens when they fall is found in a recent study published by JAMA. The study found that the number of Americans age 65 or older who have sustained one or more fractures while walking a dog on a leash has more than doubled.

Meeting the burden of proof for damages

As an elderly individual, you may be entitled to compensation after becoming the victim of a slip and fall accident. However, in order to qualify for damages, you and your attorney must establish certain burdens of proof. A dangerous condition must have existed that resulted in your fall and that condition must be the result of the negligence of another party.

Dangerous conditions leading to a fall

When you are on someone else’s property, you do have the right to expect reasonable care to be taken to protect you from injury. When a dangerous condition is present or reasonable care is not taken and it results in your injury, you may be eligible for to recover relevant damages. Property owners must address conditions that are reasonably foreseeable in terms of potentially causing a slip and fall on their property.

For instance, if an ice storm left the walkway of home covered in ice the evening before you came to that home the next day, and you slipped and fell on the walkway as a result, the homeowner may be liable for your injuries. There would have been a reasonable expectation for the homeowner to have the ice cleared by the next day. However, if the storm occurred only a few hours before the fall, the homeowner may not be reasonably expected to have cleared the walkway of ice in time, and therefore not be legally responsible for the injury.

Recovering damages for negligence

The four elements that must be proven in order to prove negligence in elderly slip and fall cases include:

• Duty – the responsible individual had a duty of care to act in the same manner as another reasonable person would have acted
• Breach – the responsible person violated his or her duty of care
• Causation – the violation led to the injury of the elderly person
• Harm – the elderly person suffered harm

If you have sustained an injury on the property of another person or entity, our premises liability attorneys at Silverman, McDonald & Friedman can hold any negligent party accountable and help you obtain the compensation you deserve for your injuries. We serve injured clients in Newcastle, Wilmington, Seaford, and throughout Delaware. To set up a free case evaluation, give us a call today at 302-888-2900 or fill out our contact form.