If you are injured in an accident caused by falling to the ground, it is important to identify whether the incident was caused by slipping or tripping. However, when seeking compensation for your injuries, the difference between slip and fall vs. trip and fall accidents matters and is worth examining.
What is a Slip & Fall Accident?
A slip and fall accident is a type of fall down accident caused by slipping on a wet or slick surface. Examples of slip and fall accidents might be slipping and falling on untreated ice, a food spill at the grocery store, or a freshly mopped or even greasy floor at a restaurant.
During a slip and fall accident, your body falls backward or forward at a high velocity. You may receive injuries to vulnerable areas like your neck, head, or spine in the process. Often times these types of accident result in injury to upper extremities due to our nature to try to break our fall with our hands and arms. These types of injuries tend to be severe and can cause paralysis, chronic pain, or disability.
What is a Trip & Fall Accident?
A trip and fall accident happens when you trip over an object or building structure. Examples include tripping over a box in the middle of a store aisle, catching your foot on a work or torn carpet or rug, catching your foot on a faulty stair in a building, or tripping on an unevenly paved walkway.
Trip and fall accidents cause your body to propel itself forward, which makes you land on your hands or knees. Trip & falls can result in equally severe injuries as in slips & falls. However, they still result in broken bones, damaged knees, scrapes, cuts, and bruises. These injuries require doctor’s visits and recuperation time.
How Does Differentiating Affect Your Case?
Working with an attorney specializing in trip and fall accidents in Paterson is your best option to win compensation after your slip and fall or trip and fall accident. An attorney can focus on the severity of your injuries and how the specific type of fall caused them.
Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer Today
Contact our attorneys for results if you’ve been injured in either a slip and fall or a trip and fall accident. The difference between the two accident types is subtle, but it can significantly affect the damages you may win in a personal injury lawsuit. Work with a knowledgeable trip and fall lawyer who can differentiate between the two during legal proceedings and help win you a fair settlement for your injuries.