An injury attorney can assist you in filing a claim if you’re hurt in a public facility. For example, if you’re hurt at an airport, he or she will assess your case and see who is liable for negligence. You need to prove negligence to file a claim, so it is important to review the matter with a Long Beach personal injury lawyer.
How Does an Injury Attorney Prove Negligence?
The Legal Information Institute (LII) at the Cornell Law School defines negligence as an act where a person fails to behave with a reasonable level of care that another person, with ordinary prudence, would have done in the same situation. The behavior is based on reckless actions or oversights related to keeping others safe from harm.
The LII adds that an injury attorney must show four elements to establish negligence. These elements include:
A legal duty the defendant owed to the plaintiff
A breach of duty on the part of the defendant
Evidence of an injury
Proof that the injury was caused through the proximate case* by the defendant’s breach
A proximate cause* is an actual cause in a legal action that supports liability.
Airport Liability Claims
An airport is a large public facility – a place that is almost a magnet for accidents. They can happen just about anywhere. Therefore, airport sites and airlines make safety a priority. However, sometimes accidents occur – mishaps that need the help of a Long Beach personal injury lawyer.
So, where are some of the places where airport accidents happen?
The following list will give you sites where airport claims often originate.
Airport Parking Lots
Parking lots set the scene for various accidents. Sometimes a pedestrian gets struck by a car or a driver gets hit in his or her vehicle. This can happen easily when cars are backing out of parking spaces or pulling into a parking lot.
Airport Food Courts
Food courts at airports also prove to be dangerous at times. For instance, slip-and-fall injuries occur or people may get burned. In these cases, a restaurant or the airport may both be liable.
Retailers at Airports
You may browse in a store at the airport while waiting on your flight. An accident in a store may result in an injury claim, especially if you need medical aid. For example, litigants may slip off a slippery floor or get hurt from a protruding shelf. If the accident happens in an airport retailer, you may be able to file a lawsuit against the airport management.
Escalators at Airport Facilities
If you’re walking through an airport and hurt yourself on an escalator, it may be because the escalator was not well maintained. Sometimes, passengers catch their clothing or fingers may get trapped in small openings. In turn, the victim may sustain a neck injury, fracture, or even more severe injury. If you’ve been involved in an escalator accident, you may be in your right to file an injury claim.
The Airport’s Baggage Claim Area
You can also get injured in the baggage claim area. In this case, the conveyor belt may trigger an injury, such as a sprain or broken bones.
The Airport Terminal
Moving walkways in a terminal can also lead to falls if they do not operate properly. In addition, foreign object debris (FOD) can increase the likelihood of an injury. According to Boeing, a FOD is an object that should not be inside, around or near airplanes. FOD not only injures passengers and personnel, but the items can also damage airplanes.
FOD may include loose pavement, catering supplies, building materials, pieces of luggage, rocks, sand, or wildlife. The material may be found on moving walkways, on taxiways, inside cargo aprons, at terminal gates, and on run-up pads. Some of the material is ingested into engines or hurled by a jet blast – both of which can lead to a personal injury.
In addition, slippery areas can lead to accidents as well as unattended airport equipment. Sometimes, people involved in active clean-up fail to post warning signs about wet floors or other routine maintenance.
The Aircraft at the Airport
If you have an accident inside an airplane or get hurt from flying debris, when an airplane takes off or lands, you may also have a personal injury claim. Seeking advice from an injury attorney is the right move if you’ve been hurt and require medical help.
Contacting an Injury Attorney
If you’ve been injured at the airport, you may need to discuss your case with a Long Beach PI lawyer. Having an injury attorney on your side will help you determine if you need to go forward legally.
You will need your attorney’s input to determine if you have a negligence claim. You can only file a claim if you can prove the four elements supporting negligence exist.
Speak to a Top Injury Attorney – An Expert in the Legal Field
To initiate a discussion, contact an injury attorney who is well versed in personal injury cases. Call Belal Hamideh Law (Personal Injury & Accident Attorney at (562) 526-1224.