LAS VEGAS PERSONAL INJURY LAWYERS

Child Injuries in Public Places

We all have to go shopping, for groceries, clothing and other necessities of life.  Eating out is also typical in a busy society for both convenience and entertainment. Even children accompanying adults are vulnerable and may be involved in accidents during these excursions. Injuries to children can be serious and permanent, and include broken bones, soft tissue or other injuries.

Spillage and Items on Floors

Children may trip on items on store or restaurant floors, or slip on wet surfaces as a result of spillages or slippery bad weather conditions.  Proprietors are responsible for ensuring the safety of children by cleaning floors regularly during inclement weather, and removing spillages or other items from floors quickly and thoroughly to prevent potential child injuries.

A store or restaurant owner can be liable if a child sustains injuries after slipping and falling if the substance that the child slipped in was on the floor long enough so that the proprietor had constructive notice of it.  Constructive notice means that the injured party can prove that the condition existed for a long enough period of time that, and that if the proprietor had exercised reasonable care, the owner should have known about the spilled substance or wet surface.

Items Falling off Store Shelves

Children can be seriously or fatally injured in super stores when extremely heavy items such as timber, kitchen sinks, etc, stacked high above their heads on store shelves fall to the floor.  Storeowners are responsible to insure the safety of children in stores.

Escalator Injuries

In the United States there are an estimated 35,000 escalators with approximately 245 million riders daily. The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that emergency room physicians treat about 10,000 every year after accidents on escalators. Twenty percent of these injuries involve entrapment of feet, hands, or shoes; Seventy-five percent of these injuries were due to falls.  Adults should take every precaution to prevent escalator injuries to young children:

• Ensure that children’s clothing does not have loose shoelaces, drawstrings, scarves, and mittens as these items can get trapped in escalators.
• Do not bring children onto escalators in strollers, walkers, or carts.
• Always hold children's hands on escalators and do not permit children to sit or play on the steps.
• Always face forward and hold the handrail.
• Avoid the edges of steps where entrapment can occur.
• Learn the location of emergency shut-off buttons are in case you need to stop the escalator.

Parking Lot Injuries

Shoppers in malls and grocery stores should be alert in parking lots at all times.

Children can be hard to see in busy parking lots and often make quick, unpredictable movements. When walking to and from the car, hold their hands to keep them safe from traffic and from falling on patches of ice or other pavement obstacles that obstruct the pavement in an open parking lot.

Store Premises Liability

The owners of stores, restaurants and shopping malls are responsible for protecting the health and safety of customers on their premises.  If your child is injured in a common area in the mall, restaurant or parking lot outside the mall, the shopping mall owner is usually liable for your injuries.  Contact a Las Vegas child accident attorney to seek advice regarding your legal rights to compensation for your child’s injury and loss.