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fall when walking on sidewalk

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TinkerBelleLuvr

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I am not a litigious person by nature, but I am wondering if I should sue. I took a bad fall yesterday walking on a sidewalk on my way to an art show. Someone had done repairs to a sidewalk and there was a huge gap in the sidewalk - think about 2 inches from one section to another in height. I didn't see it and fell hard. I'm going to the doctors today because of it.

Would this be a responsibility of the city or the property owner to maintain a sidewalk?

I will be calling the city today to see if they can at least block that section.
 


TinkerBelleLuvr

Senior Member
I just didn't see it. I was walking towards the arts festival and just didn't notice it till I started stumbling. It caught both of us by surprise. The other half is a civil engineer and said for me to call the public works department. My doctor's office is a block from where this happened so I will take some pictures today, along with a tape measure.
 

You Are Guilty

Senior Member
Fair enough - document it from every angle, with and without the ruler in the pics. While it may (or may not) constitute a "defect" under the law, either way, I suspect you won't have much trouble finding a local PI guy/gal to take it on.

As far as ownership, it obviously depends on the exact location. Generally though, property owners are responsible for inspecting and repairing.
 

TinkerBelleLuvr

Senior Member
I'm definitely damaged and in pain. I've taken pictures of the site and my boo-boos. If the swelling isn't down by Wednesday, we'll be in for an MRI. In the mean time, I'm on meds and icing like mad.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
TinkerBelleLuvr;2777832]What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I am not a litigious person by nature, but I am wondering if I should sue.
You do realize, that based on the situation at hand, that is a false statement, right?


You haven't even addressed the situation with any of the parties that might bear liability let alone be rebuffed for a valid claim yet you are asking if you should sue somebody.

A person who is not litigious would first attempt to discover if there was any liability on some party's part. Then they would address the issue of damages with that party. Only if just compensation were refused would a non-litigious person consider suing.

Here, not only do you not know who the possible liable party(ies) are or if there is even a valid claim of their liability, let alone never having addressed them concerning the issue, you are considering suing: to me, that is the definition of an overly litigious person.
 

You Are Guilty

Senior Member
While it is rather elementary black letter law that actual physical damages are a required element in a lawsuit, I have in my office at least half a dozen cases where the worst injury alleged is a "contusion" a/k/a "boo boo" in lawyerese (and one with "a contusion and resultant PTSD" somehow).

The Phrase of the Day is "nuisance value" :D



As an interesting (to me) sociological observation, there seems to be an inverse relation between the amount/extent of one's damages and the qualifications of the attorney who is willing to take the case on contingency.
 

TinkerBelleLuvr

Senior Member
Homeowners/ businesses are REQUIRED to keep their sidewalks maintained. It obviously wasn't. I've left 2 voicemails with the city. The church won't be open till tomorrow (found owner of sidewalk). My preference. FIX the sidewalk so that no one trips.

A litigious person is one who sues for every last thing around. I certainly don't. Haven't done so in the past; wondering if that was such a smart thing to have always just paid for others mistakes.

I'm the one with the knee twice its normal size and in pain. My writing hand is immobilized and kept close since movement sends pain up thru the shoulder. I would rather no one else go thru this.

If I land up with the MRI, THEN I'll go from there. I came with just wanting to know what the options were.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Homeowners/ businesses are REQUIRED to keep their sidewalks maintained. It obviously wasn't. I've left 2 voicemails with the city. The church won't be open till tomorrow (found owner of sidewalk). My preference. FIX the sidewalk so that no one trips.

A litigious person is one who sues for every last thing around. I certainly don't. Haven't done so in the past; wondering if that was such a smart thing to have always just paid for others mistakes.

I'm the one with the knee twice its normal size and in pain. My writing hand is immobilized and kept close since movement sends pain up thru the shoulder. I would rather no one else go thru this.

If I land up with the MRI, THEN I'll go from there. I came with just wanting to know what the options were.
and as well, you are the one without a denial of liability or refusal to accept responsibility for any associated costs.

In other words, your question of: should I sue; is premature and as such, leads me to believe that is more important than anything else here.

a litigious person is one who sues for the sake of suing and since you have no idea if litigation will be required, your question of: should I sue, definitely falls into that category.

.

My preference. FIX the sidewalk so that no one trips
yet your first question was: should I sue.



Maybe I'm just old school but I figure I need to know how those that may be liable will respond before ever considering the question: should I sue.
 

antrc170

Member
Homeowners/ businesses are REQUIRED to keep their sidewalks maintained. It obviously wasn't. .
If you have the code/ordinace detailing that, please post. To what extent are the home/businesses required to maintain the walkway? Does it detail the extent of services or does it just say that they must be kept in such a manner as to be able to be traveled by the public?
 

TinkerBelleLuvr

Senior Member
True - it was a question. Should I sue? Were there damages? It will depend on what happens by Wednesday. What I have seen in the past is that when someone THREATENS to sue, you might get some action. It can be an empty threat.

I finally got a call back from the city. Turns out it is a county road. The guy from the city was nice when I explained where it occurred. I would not be surprised to see a baracade of some nature in that area just because. I've now left voicemail with the county.

I was walking. Should I have seen the problem? Maybe. Looking at it again today, it really wasn't obvious cuz the concrete was all the same color. The cracks in the sidewalks were way more obvious that this. It certainly wasn't in a section of the city that I normally walk.
 
W

Willlyjo

Guest
Homeowners/ businesses are REQUIRED to keep their sidewalks maintained. It obviously wasn't. I've left 2 voicemails with the city. The church won't be open till tomorrow (found owner of sidewalk). My preference. FIX the sidewalk so that no one trips.

A litigious person is one who sues for every last thing around. I certainly don't. Haven't done so in the past; wondering if that was such a smart thing to have always just paid for others mistakes.

I'm the one with the knee twice its normal size and in pain. My writing hand is immobilized and kept close since movement sends pain up thru the shoulder. I would rather no one else go thru this.

If I land up with the MRI, THEN I'll go from there. I came with just wanting to know what the options were.
Basically, your options right now are to continue treating and see how serious your injuries are. If it turns out your injuries are serious (like an MRI showing ligament damage to the knee), then you could probably be compensated if you can show that liability exists on the part of the city or whoever created this condition.

There may only be partial liability because they may claim you could easily have noticed where you were walking. At any rate, you definitely should talk to a good PI Attorney.
 

TinkerBelleLuvr

Senior Member
Update from county:

I went and investagated . Took photo's of broken sidewalk . Placed barricades at these locations. Will schedule for repair.
So, there is progress. Now if only my knee doesn't need the MRI tomorrow.
 

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