Cracked, Broken or Irregular Sidewalks Causing a Fall

Danger awaits many unsuspecting visitors and residents alike who injure themselves from a fall caused by cracked, broken or irregular sidewalks, walkways and walking surfaces. It is amazing so many of these dangerous surfaces are allowed to exist in our State. They may be encountered in such places as an apartment complex, condominium common area, shopping center, parking lot, motel or hotel, grocery store, big-box store, restaurant, as well as a gas or service station.

The owner or possessor of a business or premises owes a duty of reasonable care to those lawfully on their property. That includes a duty to keep their property reasonably safe. They must not create fall or tripping hazards. They must repair them once they are discovered or warn of their presence until they are repaired. They may be held liable when these hazards exist and someone falls and is injured as a result. These hazards are dangerous because they are not always seen before someone falls on them. Too often someone's attention is diverted because of other visual distractions. They may also exist where there is not adequate lighting, thus making them even more difficult to perceive.

There is little excuse for these hazards to exist. They have been prohibited by variety of codes for decades, including the Florida Building Code, Americans with Disabilities Act, Life Safety Code, as well as local building codes and other standards. These codes are similar in prohibiting any change in elevation in a walking surface of as little as 1/4". Dangerous changes of elevation include a broken or crushed sidewalk, an unmarked drop-off which is not as high as a standard curb, a depression, an eroded area or a raised area commonly caused by a tree root growing beneath a sidewalk slab. Any such defect is a dangerous hazard because it is difficult to detect and can easily cause someone to fall.

All too often these defects exist because the property owner has failed to reasonably maintain the area. The law places the burden on the injured party of proving the defect had existed for a sufficient length of time that the premises owner should have been aware of its presence. Sometimes evidence of how and when the dangerous condition existed may be obtained from someone with direct knowledge, such as another customer, a resident who is familiar with the area, or even someone who has complained about the condition at an earlier time. Generally, however, the injured person seldom has direct knowledge of when the defect first existed. Many times we will gather this evidence indirectly or circumstantially. For instance, the size of the defect, together with evidence of wear around it, may be sufficient to indicate how long it was present. The condition of concrete, if it were a sidewalk or walkway, often gives an indication of its age from the amount rounding off of sharp edges, the general appearance of its age, as well as any debris found in and around the defect. That is why it is very important to obtain photographs of the defective condition at the earliest opportunity before it is repaired.