Trust Allen Vaysberg (Sidewalk Injury Attorney, Los Angeles) To Get You The Compensation You Deserve After An Accident
A sidewalk injury incident isn’t the harmless injury you think it might be. Even straight forward falls can result in serious injuries and subsequent high medical expenses and damages. Sidewalk injury incidents happen every day, so it is important to connect with a sidewalk injury attorney in southern California who cares about a strong attorney-client relationship.
When sidewalk injury incidents happen, someone needs to be held liable. Personal injury lawyers at our law firm can handle sidewalk injury claims that may involve tree roots causing a buckled/raised sidewalk, a cracked sidewalk, a defective sidewalk, and more. Even if you fell on an uneven sidewalk or another surface on private property, our personal injury team has the experience to help you recover from this incident and get the settlement you deserve.
Cracked sidewalk in Los Angeles
The City of Los Angeles – Refusing to Pay Injury Claims
As with any personal injury claim, proving any negligence can be hard, but injured pedestrians in sidewalk injury incidents have an especially unique challenge. The City of Los Angeles is notorious for the occasionally damaged sidewalk and is not exactly renowned for its sidewalk maintenance. The first thing anyone injured on a sidewalk should be aware of is that proving negligence may be difficult and Los Angeles has a long history of denying claims. The NBC Los Angeles I-Team conducted an investigation called “Falling Through the Cracks: LA Refuses to Pay Claims for Injuries Suffered on City’s Broken Sidewalks”. In fact, the I-Team says “often the only way a pedestrian injured on a dangerous sidewalk can get the city liable to take responsibility is to file a lawsuit against the city”. Here are some other interesting takeaways: Los Angeles denied around 96% of people’s personal injury claims. As an injured victim, you need an experienced sidewalk injury lawyer who can take on the challenge of standing up to the City on your behalf, as your sidewalk injury claim may likely be denied. Additionally, the City of Los Angeles often refuses to pay sidewalk injury claims even when legally responsible for the sidewalk injuries. Not every law firm has the skill and expertise to fight back against these denials and may lack the knowledge about applicable state and municipal law to know when a refusal was unwarranted, but the Law Offices of Steers & Associates is uniquely equipped to help. Law Offices of Steers & Associates is uniquely equipped to help. It is important to be aware of the challenges your sidewalk injury case may be up against. When it comes to recovering after an injury and dealing with medical bills, don’t waste your time with an attorney who doesn’t have the skill to fight for your sidewalk injury claim. We can help you recover compensation, especially for a serious injury, and our team has the resources to stand up to the City of Los Angeles and other municipalities and get your claim and case resolved for you.Who Is Liable for Sidewalk Injuries on City Sidewalks?
According to California State Law, cities aware of cracked or buckled sidewalks who did not fix them may be able to be held accountable for injuries from the dangerous condition.
However, in some cases, the property owner who owns the land the sidewalk is on is responsible for the sidewalk.
Broken, buckled, and uneven sidewalks are an ongoing problem in Los Angeles and other cities in southern California. One of the issues is tree roots. Sometimes a property owner doesn’t want to pay for sidewalk repairs because the City of Los Angeles planted trees near them and now the roots are breaking some sidewalks.
In other cases the trees were in place before the sidewalk was put in place and the city won’t fix the sidewalk defect, claiming the property owner’s tree is cracking the roots As experienced sidewalk injury lawyers, we will examine your sidewalk injury case and hold all negligent parties responsible accountable for your injuries to get you the compensation you deserve.
Proving a Sidewalk Injury Case
To make the City liable for your sidewalk injury, you must prove that the City knew about or should have known about the dangerous condition and neglected to repair it. In Los Angeles, many of these conditions are reported through Safe Sidewalks LA or MyLA311, and chances are an experienced sidewalk injury attorney can make the case that the City knew or should have known about the condition, especially with the number of people and city walking these sidewalks each and every day.Safe Sidewalks LA – Making Sidewalks Safer
The City of Los Angeles has committed to spending $1.4 Billion over the next 30 years to improve sidewalk safety for all pedestrians through Safe Sidewalks LA, their sidewalk repair program. Priorities are likely sidewalks around parks, hospitals, businesses and sidewalks creating barriers for people with mobility disabilities. As of August 2017, Safe Sidewalks LA repair program increased the amount a residential and commercial property owner can receive through the City’s Rebate Program. That amount has been raised to $10,000. It was originally $2,000 for homeowners and $4,000 for a commercial property owner.What to Do After a Sidewalk Injury
The most important step to take after a serious injury on a city sidewalk is to get medical attention. An uneven sidewalk can result in many injuries, from mild bumps and bruises to severe issues like traumatic brain injuries or spinal injuries that lead to chronic pain. By getting medical attention immediately, you can ensure your safety not just now, but moving forward as well. The sooner you address your injuries sustained, the sooner you can get the treatment you need to recover. Additionally, going to the hospital or emergency room is the best way to ensure your injuries are documented and can be used as evidence in your impending sidewalk injury case. Sidewalk fall injuries often result in a variety of injuries, from chipped teeth or broken noses to severe and traumatic injuries, so after the incident. It’s smart to take pictures of not just your injuries, but the conditions of the sidewalk, any street signs nearby, any hazards that contributed to your fall or otherwise cause the accident, and more. If the sidewalk injury incident happened on a public sidewalk at night, be sure to use flash to get the clearest, most accurate photos for your sidewalk injury case. A premises liability claim is strengthened when the evidence is strong. All iPhones and Android phones have decent cameras. Take several pictures of the cracked, uneven, buckled or otherwise dangerous sidewalk condition which caused the sidewalk injury incident, and present them to your southern California sidewalk injury lawyer right away. Obtain witness contact information if possible. Witness testimonials are strong evidence as they provide a first hand account of what exactly happened with the accident. If you’ve experienced any kind of injury from a sidewalk, from a minor broken bone to great bodily injury, it’s incredibly helpful to have a witness testimonial that can work toward proving negligence. One of the most important steps to take is to call the Los Angeles sidewalk injury attorneys at Law Offices of Steers & Associates. State law can be difficult to understand and decipher on your own, and a sidewalk injury claim and likely lawsuit is difficult to tackle without the help of an experienced attorney. Our sidewalk injury attorneys will give you a free consultation and, if applicable, will let you know the steps you can take to get the compensation you deserve, whether from an insurance company or the City. The personal injury consultation is free and there is no reason not to call. If our services are not needed you may still gain important information on how to proceed with your sidewalk injury claim.Sidewalk Injury Lawsuits and Settlements
Nobody wants to be injured but after an injury occurs, people should be aware of how this injury has affected them and how it will affect them in the future. The losses the injured are seeking compensation for are called “damages”. In a sidewalk injury case, damages recoverable include but are not limited to:
- Medical expenses: Tree roots on a city sidewalk, a cracked sidewalk or other sidewalk defects can cause great bodily harm. Sidewalk injury claims seek to compensate victims for their personal injuries, especially for incidents that result in spinal or brain injuries or other serious injuries.
Common injuries following a sidewalk injury incident include:
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- Broken bones
- Pulled or strained muscles
- Sprained ankle/other ligament or tendon
- Scrapes and cuts
- Concussion
- Traumatic brain injury
- Spinal cord injuries
- Neck injuries
- Lost wages: When you take time off to heal from an incident, you deserve compensation for those missed earnings, especially when you have to pay medical bills. Our slip and fall attorneys will work hard to earn you lost wage compensation.
- Loss of future earnings: If you fall on a cracked sidewalk, your sidewalk accident case should compensate you for your injuries sustained, especially if the sidewalk was in such a dangerous condition that you can no longer work. We’ll fight for your right to lost future earnings.
