Articles Posted in Premises Liability

Trip and fall accidents can be serious, sometimes even leading to fatalities. Recently an assistant principal at a Georgia school passed away after a violent tumble down the stairs. According to reports on CBS Atlanta, the assistant principal was only 36-years-old. She worked at an elementary school in Gwinnett County. The young woman was walking down a flight of stairs when she tripped, tumbling down the long length and suffering severe and fatal injuries.

Grief counselors will be on hand at the school to assist students and teachers as they work through this tragedy. The CDC says that every year, one in three adults over the age of 64 falls and thousands of older adults die from fall injuries every year. About two million adults are treated for nonfatal fall injuries in emergency departments. The University of Pittsburgh Prevention Research Center says that half of all falls occur in a person’s home falls are the main reason that older people go to emergency departments according to research completed by the National Safety Council.

The University of Washington researchers write that stairs are a challenge for many people with balance problems. While balance can contribute, there are other factors that can cause a stair fall to occur. For example, if the stars are not equipped with a non-slip grip tape or surface, the possibility of a fall is more likely. Also, if the stairs are uneven, or if the staircase is not equipped with handrails, this can add to the dangers.

You should be able to trust that your children will be happy and healthy at their local schools. That’s why the city is taking seriously claims that over two dozen students have been suffering from dry, itchy, and irritated skin after being in a science class in a local Atlanta classroom. According to WSBTV, doctors have been treating the students after they went to the school nurses complaining o of itchy and irritated skin. The Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding welcomed 29 middle school students and brought them into decontamination tents. The students were also rushed to the emergency room for treatment, and the school officials are still working to find out what caused the chain reaction in students. One Atlanta public school spokesman says that the district is going to rely on doctors too tell the locals what the cause of the itching skin was. The school leaders say that the outbreak began shortly after lunch on the third floor of the junior high school buildings.

Paramedics were called to the scene to treat 14 students shortly after, but more and more children started complaining of itchy or irritated skin afterward. The remaining students on the floor were moved into an auditorium while officials inspected the classroom. No teachers or staff members at the school were harmed in the accident. Some investigators find it intriguing that no faculty members that were in the room were harmed at all by the accident. If your child is injured at school or develops a skin irritation that costs you time, attention, and medical care, then you have the right to seek compensation.

Have You Been Injured On

When you’re injured in a fall on someone else’s property, is it your fault, or is it the property owners? According to personal injury attorneys, that all depends.

If the accident was the result of a lack of maintenance in a public location, such as a crack in the concrete that catches your shoe and takes you down, you may have grounds for going after the property owner for medical expenses or other expenses related to your injury.

If you are on someone’s property and are injured due to no fault but your own — you took a wrong step, you weren’t watching where you were going and tripped, that probably is not going to be the property owner’s problem. But if you trip over your neighbor’s dog, you might have a case.

This week a Missouri woman was hit by a car and killed just a block from her home and area residents blame inadequate street lighting. A Tampa woman was killed by a tanker truck after her car spun off the road. Witnesses say she had ventured to the side of the highway, presumably to flag down help when she was struck and killed. That accident occurred at 3 a.m. today. And yesterday, a 13-year old boy was killed on his bicycle when a truck turning into a gas station in Fairbanks, Alaska, failed to see him crossing the entrance path.

As these examples show,fatal accidents occur under a variety of different circumstances. No matter how careful you think you are, there is always the chance for something unexpected to occur. In those instances, it is important that you know how to find a good attorney.

In the event of personal injury or a terrible fatal accident like the three listed above, next of kin typically will hire an attorney. In Georgia, you need a personal injury attorney who knows how to work with insurance companies, police, medical care providers, as well as an attorney who has experience in court.