Snow and Ice Injuries

With the severe winter we had in New York the last few winters, and the prediction of similar weather by many climatologists for upcoming winters, slip and fall injuries are a significant safety issue for our clients at The Law Office of Mark A. Siesel, particularly elderly people and those with disabilities. Many of our clients have suffered broken limbs, torn tendons or ligaments, and back and neck injuries from falls on sidewalks, parking lots, driveways, entering apartment buildings, malls and supermarkets.

Have you been seriously injured after falling on snow or ice? Contact the law firm for a free consultation. Our team is proud to serve Westchester County, New York, the Bronx, the upper Hudson Valley, and surrounding areas, putting our more than 38 years of experience to work on your claim. In your free consultation, we can explain how the law impacts your case and go over how much compensation you may be eligible for.

What Do I Need to Know About Snow and Ice Injuries?

You need to understand that many people underestimate the impact a snow and ice injury can have on their lives, and many people don’t understand their options for seeking financial recovery after a serious injury. Both these challenges can leave injured victims in severe pain and financial distress.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, each year an average of 1,300 people are fatally injured and 116,800 Americans are seriously injured in traffic accidents on snowy and icy roads and pavements. According to the CDC, more than one million Americans are injured, on average, every year due to snow and ice.

Snow and ice injuries can include many types of situations, including:

• Slipping and falling on snowy or icy pavements or walkways, which can put you at risk of potentially fatal head and spinal cord injuries.
• Melting ice inside buildings, which also creates a slip and fall hazard.
• Falling ice and snow from roofs and overhead structures, which creates a risk of broken bones and serious head injuries.
• Workplaces where employees work outside, where they can be exposed to wintry conditions that can put them in danger of frostbite, hypothermia, falls, and other serious dangers.
• Traffic accidents caused by snow and ice.
• Serious snowstorms can cause drivers to get stuck in their cars or homeowners to become trapped in their homes, which can put them at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, exposure, and other hazards.

No matter how you have been injured, it’s important to get medical help as soon as you can. Frostbite and hypothermia can be potentially life-threatening, as can head injuries and other winter-related injuries. Always get a full medical evaluation and diagnosis to ensure you’re not in danger.

You will also want to consider the long-term costs of your injuries. Whether you have suffered a fracture, a soft tissue injury, or any other harm, you may need emergency medical care, rehabilitation and ongoing care, medication for pain management, and other care. Even with excellent health insurance, some of these costs will be out of pocket, and they can be substantial. You may also be facing higher costs in the future. For example, a serious head injury may require a lifetime of additional medical care.

In addition, you may need to lose time at work. If your injury is permanent, you may not be able to return to your previous role, which means your earning capacity may be impacted. Even if you can return to work but it takes months, you may lose out on career advancement opportunities, which can affect your earnings potential. It can take you years to catch up.

Many people also overlook the impact of injuries on their quality of life. Any serious injury can also impact your mental health. It’s not uncommon to be diagnosed with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental illness after a serious injury. In addition, many people who have sustained a serious injury may struggle with their relationships as they deal with the trauma and impact of the injury on everyday life. For some victims who have fallen on snow, been in a winter-related car accident, or have sustained another snow and ice injury, even simple tasks such as preparing a meal or showering become difficult. They may need to pay for at-home help or other support, which of course adds to the total cost of the injury.

This is why it’s so important to consult with a personal injury attorney as soon as possible. Your lawyer will look for all liable parties, whether that’s a municipality that failed to properly clear roadways after a storm, a contractor who installed a roof in a faulty manner, a property owner who failed to clear snow and ice from walkways, or any other liable party. Your attorney can pursue compensation for your pain and suffering, medical costs, past and future earnings loss, car rentals after a car accident, property damage, and incidental costs, so you have to pay less from your own savings.

Who is Liable for Snow and Ice Injuries?

Owners of businesses are not guarantors of safety, but if they are inviting members of the public to their establishments, they are obligated under the law to make the parking lots, walkways, buildings, and floors inside the premises reasonably safe. For parking areas, owners usually retain one set of contractors to perform snow and ice removal from parking areas with plow trucks, and often a different company or individual contractors to clear pathways with shovels and snow blowers. Under the law in New York, if someone is injured due to a slip and fall as the result of the negligence of a business owner in allowing snow or ice to accumulate, the injured person may have a claim or lawsuit against the business owner but cannot sue the snow removal contractor directly.

In an accident involving a municipality, such as a fall on a sidewalk or parking lot owned and operated by a city, town, or village, there are additional requirements, which make the case more complicated and difficult to win. For example, municipalities are entitled to “prior written notice” of the dangerous snow and ice condition (which is obviously an almost impossible standard in a case involving a transient condition such as an icy sidewalk). Further, the claimant is required to promptly file a notice of claim shortly after the accident as a condition to filing suit.

What Should You Do If You’re Injured by Snow and Ice?

If you are injured in a slip and fall accident, it is essential that you retain experienced attorneys who are familiar with the complexities of a premises liability case. New York law requires that the property owner have “notice” or knowledge of the ice and/or snow condition which has caused you to fall, and a sufficient period of time to clear and remove the unsafe condition before the owner can be held legally responsible for your injuries. In addition, if a storm is ongoing, the owner will generally not be liable for injuries that occur during the snow or other precipitation, unless it can be proven that the fall was due to an accumulation of ice and snow that was present prior to the storm. Further, an owner of property is provided with a period of time immediately after a snowfall to clear his or her property of snow and ice.

The experienced and dedicated litigators at The Law Office of Mark A. Siesel, with conveniently located offices in White Plains and Peekskill, NY, have successfully litigated hundreds of slip and fall cases throughout the State of New York in the federal and state courts since 1986. We are thoroughly familiar with the intricacies of this area of law and know that it is essential to obtain and preserve evidence immediately, including obtaining photographs of the snow and ice condition, statements from witnesses to the accident or the condition, retaining experts where necessary and securing certified weather reports to establish that there was no precipitation at the time of the accident and the owner had sufficient time to remove the snow and ice prior to the accident.

If you have been injured in a snow and ice accident, contact us online for a free consultation to discuss your case in detail.