Visitors to parking garages in Chicago may suffer slip or trip and accidents due to various hazards, such as snow, ice, potholes, broken pavement, water leaks, spilled vehicle fluids, uneven ground, or debris on the floor. When you suffer a slip and fall accident in a parking garage in Chicago, taking prompt action can help you pursue financial recovery for your injuries and losses. Steps you should take to handle a slip and fall accident claim in Chicago include:
Prioritize Medical Attention
First, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible after a slip and fall accident, even if you do not feel pain, have visible injuries, or notice seemingly minor injuries. Injuries can take hours or days to begin manifesting symptoms or can worsen in the days and weeks following an accident. However, seeking medical care soon after a slip and fall accident can help you document those injuries and connect them to the accident. Those medical records can strengthen your injury claim if a liable parking garage owner tries to argue that your injuries had a different cause.
Report the Accident to the Garage Operator or Owner
You should also report the accident to the owner or operator of the garage immediately following the accident. Notifying garage staff will ensure that the owner or operator knows about your fall. You should request a copy of any accident or incident report written by the garage’s staff. Furthermore, you should ask the garage employees to preserve any surveillance footage of the accident or the area around where the accident occurred.
Gather Evidence
Before leaving the garage, you can use your cell phone to take photos or videos of critical details of the accident, such as the hazard that caused you to fall, other dangerous conditions like poor lighting or lack of signage, or weather conditions (if relevant), visible injuries you suffered, and your clothing and footwear. Talk to bystanders who saw you fall to gather their contact information or a brief statement.
As you recover from injuries suffered in the accident, remember to keep copies of all bills, invoices, and receipts for medical treatment, and gather copies of your pay stubs or income statements if you need to miss time from work.
Understand Slip and Fall Liability Laws
The Illinois Premises Liability Act governs liability for slip and fall accidents in Chicago. Under Illinois’ premises liability law, property owners have a duty of reasonable care to lawful entrants to the owner’s property. This duty may include making reasonable efforts to inspect the premises for dangerous conditions that may injure lawful visitors, warning visitors of the presence of hazards (such as through warning signs or cordoning off areas), and fixing or removing hazards as soon as reasonably practicable. A parking garage owner or operator may bear liability for a visitor’s slip and fall accident when the owner/operator fails to shovel snow and ice after a storm, does not clean up spills or leaks after an extended period of time, or fails to maintain pavement or lighting. Illinois also follows a modified comparative negligence rule for slip and fall cases, under which an injured party may have their compensation reduced in proportion to their share of fault for the accident, or may lose the right to seek compensation if they bear a majority of the fault.
Contact a Chicago Personal Injury Attorney
Finally, you should speak to a slip and fall accident attorney to discuss your legal options for seeking financial recovery from the parking garage owner or operator and to get help pursuing your injury claim.
Contact Saperstein Law Group today for a free, no-obligation consultation with a slip and fall attorney to learn more about the process of pursuing compensation for injuries you sustained in a slip-and-fall accident in a parking garage in Chicago.