The holiday season is the busiest for malls throughout the USA (for all major holidays) – locals, tourists, and foreigners all flock to them like moths to a flame – hungry to consume everything in sight. The overcrowded spaces thus, by no one’s surprise, witness some serious shopping injuries and accidents. These accidents are usually minor with complete recovery possible within days, but sometimes, things can take a turn for the worse, or even deadly.
It is hard to generalize shopping accidents, some of them may not be injuries at all, i.e. food poisoning, premises-related illness (failing to implement proper SOPs, i.e. in the case of COVID-19), and so on. But one thing is common to all cases – the victims sustain monetary and non-financial damages which may be irreparable in some cases. You can seek compensation for your damages, even in a no-fault state like Massachusetts given that the damages were serious.
You should rush to seek legal consultation from a professional and experienced personal injury lawyer to get started with preparing your case and sorting out other details.
As for your compensation, here are some details that will help you better grasp the scenario:
Shopping Mall Injuries – How & Why?
The holiday season is pretty busy for malls, retail stores, and grocery stores, thus the possibility of getting involved in an accident is dangerously high. Throughout the year, thousands of such cases are reported in the USA, but their frequency is always the highest this time of the year.
The sense of rush, dash for discounts, and jam-packed spaces complicate things, making such injuries very much likely to happen. Usually, the damage is only minor and recoverable, but this is not always true. Negligence on part of the mall management can result in catastrophic injuries and even death.
If recklessness was involved, then the accident can be easily be termed as premises liability, for instance, if some liquid was spilled onto the floor no warning signs were displayed, then there the odds of a slip and fall accident would’ve been high enough. Plus, on top of everything, such risks are usually hard to avoid since the victim has no way of knowing what danger lies ahead.
The management of any mall or shopping space owes it to their visitors to take all steps necessary to keep people safe within their premises, i.e. placing signs, sharing safety tips for holiday activities, securing the parking spot, etc. Any negligence on their part will be seen as a violation of this legal duty. If something like this does happen, be sure to collect evidence to show how negligence and carelessness on part of the management caused you the harm you sustained.
The injuries that result from such incidents can be highly traumatizing, i.e. broken bones, brain injuries, spinal injuries, neck injuries, muscle damage, soft tissue damage, and bruises are some of the many possibilities. Plus, the damage can leave people out of work for days, even weeks, thus compensation is a necessity in such circumstances.
Types Of Holiday Season Mall Accidents
Before we go on and explore the full extent of the problem here (especially with severe injuries), let’s see how these accidents usually happen, and what are the main causes:
- Slip and fall accidents
- Injuries due to crowd stampede (can lead to dangerous condition)
- Pedestrian accidents in the car-park spaces/parking lots
- Injuries involving shopping carts
- Accidents due to equipment failure
- Injuries and accidents due to lack of warning signs
- Elevator injuries
- Accidents in staircases
- Foodborne illnesses
- Infections resulting from lack of care for SOPs
And so on…
Understanding the cause of injury and the nature of the accident is important to assign the blame. When discussing the case with your lawyer, you must include all the details that will help them establish negligence and get started with legal action. Your goal here is to find out whether there is a single negligent party or more, and whether you can be held partly responsible for your suffering, and then do all you can for fair compensation as per your negligence claim.
All shop owners and management are legally required to make their shop/mall premises safe for their visitors and if it is apparent that they failed to do so, then you can sue them for the damages. Be sure to discuss things with your personal injury attorney beforehand.
Damages Caused By Shopping Injuries
As with all other personal injury cases, shopping mall accidents can cause both economic and non-economic damages. The most obvious damages are the injuries caused by such holiday accidents and these include:
- Torn ligaments
- Muscle strain or sprain
- Back injuries
- Neck injuries
- Lacerations and bruises
- Fractures and broken bones
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Crush (bone) injuries
- Soft tissue injuries
- Muscle damage
And so on…
In such cases, you should rush to the doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment – don’t delay things here because any delay on your part will be seen as a lack of urgency by the insurance adjuster. This can lead them to believe (and assert) that you were not as hurt as you claim.
Once you’re diagnosed, keep track of all your expenses including medical bills, expenses for medication, rehabilitation costs (in case of continued physiotherapy), lost wages, loss of earning potential, and so on. If the said incident necessitated extra expenses on your part, you should also note that down.
As for the non-economic damages, your pain and suffering will be reflected directly in your medical bills and diagnosis report. Plus, it would be a good idea to document your experience in a journal, stating clearly what tasks you could perform before without any trouble which became troublesome afterward.
All of this will put you in a much better position to demand compensation from the liable party.
The Extent Of Compensation
This is again a variable segment of every premises liability claim/accident claim, the exact compensation sum will depend on a number of factors such as whether you were partly responsible or not, and the extent of the damages themselves as reflected by:
- Medical expenses for common injuries
- Costs of medical care for serious ones
- Other costs associated with your recovery, i.e. extra care, medicine, etc.
- Expenses necessitated by the incident
- Loss of income/wages/earning potential
- Physical pain
- Emotional anguish
- Loss of consortium
Bottom Line
Our legal professionals at Kelly’s & Associates are always ready to assist people with legal trouble, especially personal injury victims. We’ll offer free initial consultation, following which we’ll put our resources at work trying to get you to a favorable position in your case. Call us today for more information without any obligations!
