If you have been injured while walking on a sidewalk in New York City, your first reaction is probably to be angry about the poor condition of the sidewalk and the effect that it had on your health and physical well-being. This is a perfectly reasonable reaction. Sometimes these types of accidents can involve medical bills as well as loss of wages that might occur as a result. If you have been injured while walking on a sidewalk, the following guide will show you most of what you need to know when seeking compensation and legal representation.
Injury Treatment
The first thing that you’re going to want to do when you injure yourself on the sidewalk is seek medical attention. Your safety is the most important aspect of the entire situation, and that is why it is so important that you ensure you are seeking proper medical attention. Trips are nasty incidents that can often cause injury to your knees, ankles, shoulders, neck, and back. In some cases, it may even be necessary to seek treatment at the emergency room, which can be quite costly, but necessary.
Documentation
The next important thing that you should do if you have fallen and injured yourself on a New York City sidewalk is to get plenty of documentation of the incident. For a trip and fall on the sidewalk, this is going to include photos and a written account of what occurred. You should try to take as many photos as possible with your cell phone of the condition of the sidewalk. If you are unable to because of your injury, try to have someone else at the scene do it. In addition, you will want to record the date and time on the photo and the address where you fell.
It is important to be extremely thorough in all of your documentation, including the photos that you take. Take dozens of photos from all different angles to be sure that you are able to capture the entire situation.
If the situation that you were involved in involves a construction company or the portion of the sidewalk that you tripped on is under construction, then be sure to record that as well and the name of the company.
Possible Compensation
If you have been injured on the sidewalks of New York, then you have a couple of different options in terms of what you can pursue compensation for. After your sidewalk trip and fall accident, you can experience injuries that both increases the medical bills that you’ll have to pay and lost wages as a result. If that is the case, then you can certainly file a suit to compensate you for those losses. If you wish to pursue a lawsuit as a result of your injuries, the sidewalk fall injury lawyers at Friedman, Levy, Goldfarb & Green have provided important information (such as who you can sue and therefore prove negligence of the guilty party) that will assist you in your sidewalk injury claim: https://friedmanlevy.com/practice-areas/slip-and-fall/sidewalk-falls/
