According to the National Safety Council, falls are the second leading cause of accident-related deaths. Even if a slip or fall isn’t fatal, it can still result in serious injuries.
In 2023 alone, more than 8.8 million people visited the emergency room for treatment for fall-related injuries.
If you have been injured in a slip or fall, one of the most important pieces of evidence you’ll need to prove your case and recover the compensation you deserve is surveillance video.
Below, I’ll tell you how video footage can help your case. If you’ve suffered this type of accident and need assistance securing surveillance video or other evidence, a New York slip and fall attorney at Buttafuoco & Associates may be able to help.
Get in touch for a free consultation at 1-800-NOW-HURT.
1. An Eye Witness Account
One of the most challenging parts of proving a slip and fall case is that these types of accidents often happen with no witnesses present. Even if there are people around–such as after a slip while crossing an icy parking lot at the grocery–they may not have been watching closely enough to accurately report what happened.
When only the victim has details about the accident, it can present legal challenges. A victim who is in shock after an injury, or who suffered a concussion might misremember or be unable to recall exactly what happened.
The property owner’s attorneys will also try their hardest to disprove what a victim says.
If the victim doesn’t recall the exact time the accident occurred, or cannot clearly explain the hazard that caused them to slip, they may be accused of being partially or completely at fault for what happened. Because of these challenges, many slip and fall victims abandon their cases, leaving them with expensive medical bills they can’t cover.
In these types of situations, surveillance video is invaluable because it fulfills the duties of an eye witness. Video can often provide proof of when the accident happened, what caused it, and any extenuating factors that may have been overlooked by witnesses or the victim.
2. Captures the Time, Place, and Conditions at the Scene
The time and place of the accident are essential details in any slip and fall case. If a property owner tries to deny that the accident happened at all, video surveillance will prove otherwise.
Weather conditions, lighting, and other causal factors can change by the hour, so even if the footage does not pick up every detail of what occurred, it can capture the conditions at the scene and suggest whether they were a factor in the slip or fall.
For example, let’s say a victim broke their collar bone when they slipped on a broken step in their apartment building. If the landlord has surveillance cameras, they could reveal that the step was hazardous, there was no warning posted, that the accident happened at 10pm, and that a non-working light in the hallway made it impossible for the victim to see.
All of these details would serve as strong evidence that the landlord was negligent in a variety of ways and strengthen the plaintiff’s case.
3. Proves Negligence
To further explain the example above, in any slip and fall case, negligence–injuries caused because a property owner acted carelessly–must be proven. If a hazard (such as a spilled drink, ice on a sidewalk, or a loose board in a stairwell) is not remedied by the property owner in a reasonable amount of time, they can be held liable.
As you can imagine, it could be hard to prove how long a hazard went uncorrected, but surveillance footage can show exactly how long the danger was present and whether the owner had enough time to clean it up or repair it. If they waited too long to fix the issue or failed to put up a caution sign, their carelessness can be proven by the footage.
It can of course be challenging to recover video surveillance from the at-fault party after an injury, but a slip and fall attorney serving New York can take the reins and recover any footage that would serve as strong evidence.
The Downsides of Video Surveillance
It is important to realize that while video surveillance often helps in slip and fall cases, it can have its downsides.
For one, if the video demonstrates that the victim was partly responsible for their injuries, they can be considered comparatively negligent. If the victim tripped while texting, while trespassing, or if they simply ignored a caution sign near a puddle of water, the amount of compensation can be reduced under New York comparative negligence laws.
In another scenario, let’s say the video captures the victim getting up and walking right after the accident, but they have claimed their injuries are serious. It is of course possible that serious injuries may not appear right away, but if there is evidence that the victim appears unharmed, it could affect the power of their arguments.
In this case, working with a New York slip and fall lawyer can help. Attorneys are well acquainted with the process of reviewing video surveillance and using it in conjunction with other convincing evidence to prove a case. If you are concerned about what may have been captured on camera, Buttafuoco & Associates can explain your legal rights during a free consultation.
Get in Touch with a Lawyer Today
If you were injured in a slip or fall and think video evidence may have been captured, it is imperative that you act quickly. Security footage gets deleted by most businesses after 30 to 90 days, so working with an attorney who can write a spoliation letter to prevent the business from destroying evidence could be key to proving your case.
If your accident happened at work, the process of gathering video evidence may be more complicated. An attorney can also recover it for you so you can focus on getting well.
At Buttafuoco & Associates, we fight for our clients’ rights to help them maximize compensation after an accident so they can make a full recovery and get back to life as they knew it. Get in touch today for a free consultation.
Call 1-800-NOW-HURT.