Improper Warning Signs
If you believe that a hazard was obvious to a property owner or manager and they did not erect an appropriate warning sign or other signals to alert customers and invited persons to the dangerous objective or condition, you might be eligible to pursue an improper warning signs slip and fall accident claim.
An Indiana improper warning signs slip and fall injury claim handled by an experienced attorney might help you to recover the compensation you deserve after a serious accident.
If you’ve already been hurt, you cannot afford to wait. You need to set aside time to talk to an Indiana slip and fall lawyer today. You deserve to get the simple answers and straight talk about your concerns in your case with an experienced slip and fall lawyer who cares. If you allow the Indiana statute of limitations to lapse, you’ll be unable to get help for your injuries following a slip and fall accident. In most cases, that’s only two years from the date of the injury – in government owned or controlled lands, it can be as short as 180 days!
What Responsibilities do Indiana Property Owners Have to Warn You?
Property owners have a responsibility to ensure that their premises are reasonably free and clear of hazards for customers and invited guests. This might include situations in which the property owner is unwilling or unable to immediate remove the hazard. Determining why or how the landowner failed to remedy a potentially dangerous situation takes an investigation. An investigation that Shaw Law has done literally hundreds of times. An investigation that includes a thorough review of store or corporate policy manuals, training videos and leases. Sometimes these documents require warning signs to be used under particular circumstances such as yours.
In these particular circumstances, the property owner must erect a warning sign or some other situation that alerts people in and around the area that there is a hazard. These hazards can include uneven tiles, torn carpet, broken stairways, cracked pavement, a pothole or hole in the ground, slippery floors and more.
There are specific codes and standards that all landowners must comply with. In all of these situations, the property owner might not be able to respond immediately to the hazardous condition, but by taking the extra step to post a warning sign, they alert customers and invited guests to the dangerous situation to prevent injuries. Failure to do so can be actionable by an injured person. This is known as the concept of “premises liability.” Shaw Law has been handling premises liability cases for the past 30+ years with great success.
If a property owner or manager was aware of a situation and fails to rectify it as they should have with regular maintenance and inspections of the area this might form the basis of a premises liability claim.
Sometimes, landowners or business owners might “cut corners” and fail to do inspections or set out warning signs that the store or corporate policy manual requires. Sometimes, the business owner can be “short-staffed” or not have enough employees to perform the task. Other times, it can be simple oversight.
The placement of warning signs is also vital. Many convenience stores place a yellow plastic warning sign in the middle of the store – but that doesn’t necessarily give the unsuspecting customer full awareness of what the danger might be or where it is located.
Additionally, timing of warning signs is also important. Many business owners leave a warning sign out at all times – 24/7 – in an effort to comply with warning requirements (McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants are known to do this). But, if a customer sees that sign every single time he or she enters the store or restaurant – whether a dangerous condition is present or not – then the warning can lack meaning. After all, a warning sign should warn of a known danger – not just the possibility that danger could be present at all times.
Improper warning sign cases – due to placement, timing or not used -- might make an injured person eligible for recovery if the victim can prove that there was no warning sign present or that the warning sign was very unclear. In these circumstances, the person who was hurt while shopping or visiting a store or restaurant could be entitled to pursue a lawsuit for maximum recovery of compensation.
These cases can be very complex and should only be handled by an experienced attorney. A knowledgeable Indiana improper warning sign slip and fall accident lawyer is the most important asset that an injured victim can have.
Injured in an accident because of someone else’s carelessness? Call Shaw Law at (260) 777-7777 to arrange for a free consultation. Or contact us online.
