If you have been injured due to poor lighting, you may be entitled to compensation.
Lighting choices can play an important role in a company’s business plan. Some businesses may use dim “mood” lighting to enhance their brand or make places like bars, casinos, and nightclubs more appealing. Others may skimp on lighting in an attempt to save money on operational costs.
In any case, whenever a property owner fails to provide safe lighting conditions and someone is injured as a result, they can and should be held responsible.
Here are some examples of common types of premises accidents that can be caused by bad lighting.
Slip & Falls
Property owners are only held liable for slip and fall accidents caused by their own negligence. So, for example, if someone spills their drink in a bar and you slip on it an hour later, the bar would be at fault because they did not clean up the mess in a reasonable amount of time. If you slipped two minutes after the spill happened, the bar would likely not be responsible because they cannot be expected to instantly be aware of every hazard created on their property. However, if dim lighting contributed to your fall because you did not have enough light to see where you were putting your feet, this could shift liability back on the property owner regardless of when the spill happened. Slip and fall accidents have the potential to be quite serious if you hit your head or hurt your back and should not be taken lightly.
Trip & Falls
The risk of trip and fall accidents can also be increased by bad lighting. For example, in a dimly lit hallway it might be easy to trip over a lump in the carpet or an unexpected stairstep that you would have been perfectly able to avoid with proper lighting. You could also easily trip in a movie theater if the “runway” lights along the aisles are not functioning. Property owners are expected to not only install code-compliant lighting to prevent this from happening, but also inspect their premises regularly to discover and replace any burnt out light bulbs promptly.
Assaults
Negligence in maintaining proper lighting conditions could also expose a property owner to liability for injuries suffered in a criminal assault. In order to make a case in this situation, you would have to prove that the property owner should have known that the dim lighting in their parking garage, parking lot, or other area created an unsafe condition and yet did nothing about it.
How to Tell If You Have a Case for Compensation
The best way to tell if you have a case for compensation for an injury suffered due to improper lighting is to contact an experienced premises accident attorney such as Fernando D. Vargas. Attorney Vargas will be happy to review the basics of your case with you during a free initial consultation and advise you of your options for moving forward.
