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Staten Island Defective Stairs Accident Lawyer

 Were You Injured in a Stairway Accident? Call Our Staten Island Defective Stairs Accident Lawyer for Help

Staircases are such a common feature in our daily lives that we often take them for granted. We climb them in our homes, at work, restaurants, bars, in shopping centers, and countless other locations without giving them a second thought. However, when stairs are broken, defective, or poorly maintained, they can turn into dangerous hazards that lead to serious injuries. Indeed, statistics reveal that there are almost 1.1 million patients treated each year at hospitals in the United States for stair-related injuries. Roughly 25% of these falls were caused by slips, trips, or missteps on the stairs – many due to defects with the stairs themselves. Unfortunately, our Staten Island broken and defective stairs lawyer knows that many of these accidents on stairs will lead to serious personal injuries or the wrongful death of an innocent person.

Here at the O’Connor Personal Injury Law Firm, our compassionate legal team can help victims and their families recover compensation for broken and defective stairs throughout Staten Island. Unlike other personal injury law firms, we handle cases in-house and treat each case uniquely – not applying a cookie-cutter approach to resolving your case. As a result, you get the dedicated and personalized attention that you and your family deserve after a serious or catastrophic accident. To learn more about how the O’Connor Personal Injury Law Firm and our Staten Island defective stairs accident lawyer can help you, contact us today to schedule a free consultation.

 

Why Stairs are Dangerous and Need Special Attention

Stairs are designed to provide safe passage between different levels of a building, meaning they deal with elevation changes. Any change of elevation creates a risk of a fall. When they’re properly constructed and maintained, stairs are generally safe for all people. However, various factors can compromise their safety which can present a safety risk to even the fittest of people. Unfortunately, many of the defects and risks associated with stairs are those caused by reckless or careless conduct by a proper owner or maintainer.

Some of the most common reasons why stairs and stairwells can become dangerous and present a slip, trip, misstep, or another type of fall hazard include the following:

  • Structural defects – poor design or construction can lead to unstable or weak stairs that may collapse under normal use, especially when the materials used are improper, weak/basic, or abused and not maintained well (i.e., wood steps that are not sealed/painted and therefore rot)
  • Worn-out materials – over time, materials used in staircases can degrade, leading to weakened steps, loose handrails, or slippery surfaces. This is particularly true of wooden stairs on patios, decks, near pools, and other locations, which result in them rotting or breaking away.
  • Improper maintenance – neglecting regular inspections and repairs can allow small issues to become significant hazards, especially when it comes to wood but also certain types of flooring that routinely needs to be cleaned and resealed.
  • Code violations – stairs that do not meet local building codes may lack proper safety features or have dangerous dimensions such as too high of a step (risers too tall), too much of a deviation between steps, or an improper landing.
  • Environmental factors – exposure to weather conditions can accelerate wear and tear, especially on outdoor staircases, but also create dangerous conditions. Thus, exterior stairs without proper friction stripes can become very dangerous in wet or icy conditions – especially if they are painted wood steps without any stripes or friction paint.
  • Poor lighting – steps and stairwells need to be properly lit, whether indoors or outsides, and the failure to provide adequate lighting could be a primary cause of a slip, trip, misstep, or another type of fall accident on a set of stairs.

Unfortunately, these issues often are noticed but uncorrected until it’s too late, making broken and defective stairs a trap for victims. Sadly, defendants often try to first blame victims for their falls on stairs even where a staircase is dangerous due to a defendant’s negligence.

 

Common Causes of Broken and Defective Stairs Accidents

Personal injuries caused by stairway accidents can occur due to a variety of reasons. Understanding when these common causes may be due to negligence can help victims and their families realize they have a case and know to call a Staten Island broken and defective stairs lawyer like ours at the O’Connor Personal Injury Law Firm.

Some of the most common examples of negligence resulting in a stairway accident includes the following:

  • Uneven steps – steps that are not uniform in height or depth can easily trip users, especially when descending.
  • Missing or broken handrails – handrails provide crucial support and balance, and the failure to provide handrails, properly install, or maintain handrails can lead to falls.
  • Poor lighting – inadequate illumination makes it difficult to see steps clearly, increasing the risk of missteps as well as the risk of falling on defects
  • Slippery surfaces – wet, icy, or overly polished stairs can cause users to lose their footing.
  • Loose carpeting or treads – unsecured floor coverings on stairs can cause a person to slip, slide, or otherwise shift and lose balance his or her balance, resulting in a fall.
  • Debris or obstacles – items left on stairs create tripping hazards, as do tripping hazards like rocks, debris, and even excess salt for snowy or icy conditions
  • Lack of visual cues – without contrasting colors or textures to differentiate steps, users may misjudge step edges, which is why steps should have stripes at the edges to help users see the different steps
  • Structural weakness – stairs that are not properly supported may sag or give way under a person’s weight, especially exterior stairs made of wood, which could result in a fall, loosing balance, or otherwise stumble on the stairs and cause serious injuries.
  • Missing steps – as crazy as it may seem, sometimes stairs have missing steps due to damage and a single missing step in a flight of stairs can catch users off guard, leading to serious falls.
  • Improper rise and run – stairs with steps that are too high, too low, too shallow, or too deep can disrupt a person’s natural gait and cause falls, which is why stairs that are too steep are often very dangerous.
  • Other common causes of defective or broken stairs that could result in serious personal injuries or the wrongful death of an innocent person.

 

Common Injuries That Our Staten Island Defective Stairs Accident Lawyer Can Handle

Falls on stairs can result in a wide range of injuries, from minor bruises to life-altering trauma. Unfortunately, many of the injuries caused in stairs accident are often more serious and usually life-changing or life-threatening. This is particularly true of head and neck injuries, but also other types of spinal cord injuries.

Some of the most common types of broken and defective stairs accidents that the O’Connor Personal Injury Law Firm can handle include the following:

  • Fractures or broken bones, particularly in the wrists, arms, ankles, and hips, are frequent outcomes of stair falls
  • Head injuries from mild concussions to severe traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), head impacts in stair accidents can have serious, long-lasting effects
  • Spinal cord injuries potentially resulting in partial or complete paralysis
  • Soft tissue injuries, including sprains, strains, and tears to muscles, ligaments, and tendons are common, especially in the ankles, knees, shoulders, and back
  • Cuts and lacerations that result in scarring and disfigurement, especially to the face, and many that require medical attention and stitches
  • Internal injuries that can cause internal bleeding or damage to organs, which may not be immediately apparent but can be life-threatening
  • Dislocations to joints, particularly shoulders and hips, can occur in many types of stair accidents
  • Neck injuries including whiplash-like injuries can occur, especially if the fall involves tumbling down multiple steps or flights
  • Dental injuries because face-first falls can result in broken or knocked-out teeth, as well as TMJ or other jaw-related injuries that could have a profound effect on a person’s quality of life
  • Psychological trauma leading to anxiety, fear of using stairs, and other emotional harm from a fall
  • Wrongful death, including deaths that occur many weeks or months after a fall; and
  • Other injuries related to a victim’s slip and fall or trip and fall down the stairs in Staten Island.

The severity of these injuries often depends on factors such as the height of the fall, the age and health of the victim, and the specific circumstances of the accident. Elderly individuals and young children are particularly vulnerable to serious injuries from stair accidents due to factors like reduced balance, slower/inaccurate reflexes, and bone structure

 

Liability in Stair Accident Cases

Determining liability in stair accident cases can be complex, as it often involves proving negligence on the part of a property owner, tenant, or maintainer. Indeed, there may be many different parties that could be liable for a stairwell accident in Staten Island. Establishing liability can be difficult when there are multiple defense lawyers pointing the finger at each other or at you.

Generally, establishing liability requires a victim to demonstrate that a defendant was negligent. A negligence defendant in a broken or defective stairs accident is one who knew or should have known about the dangerous condition and failed to address it. That could be based on building code violations, local laws, or even the failure to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition.

One of the most important concepts in stair accident cases includes notice. Victims will need to establish that a defendant had notice of the dangerous or defective condition. Such notice could be actual, meaning that another customer saw the defect and reported, or the notice could be constructive, meaning that it existed on the premises for a reasonable period of time that a reasonable inspection should have discovered it.

 

Were You Hurt in a Stairway Accident? Call Our Staten Island Defective Stairs Accident Lawyer for Help

Broken and defective stairs pose a significant but often overlooked danger in our daily lives. The injuries resulting from stair accidents can be severe, leading to long-term physical, emotional, and financial consequences. Although property owners have a legal responsibility to maintain safe conditions, proving liability in these cases can be challenging without a Staten Island broken and defective stairs accident lawyer like ours.

To learn more about how the O’Connor Personal Injury Law Firm can help you and your family recovery compensation for pain and suffering, medical bills, lost wages, and other damages in a broken and defective stairs accident, call today to schedule a free consultation by dialing (866) 927-3809 or by sending us an email through our “Contact Us” box available here to schedule your free consultation. Our compassionated and experienced personal injury legal team is happy to sit down and answer your questions during a no-cost, no-obligation consultation