OPEN AND OBVIOUS DOCTRINE–Utah Slip and Falls

Almost weekly, I receive calls about people falling down and receiving injuries. The caller then generally describes how the property owner must be at-fault for causing the dangerous condition on the land to make him fall.

Slip and Fall Injury Law Firm

Utah Slip and Fall Personal Injury Cases
There are legitimate slip and fall negligence cases. The key feature on these types of cases is that the business owner knew about the dangerous condition on his land and did not care and did not take any steps to fix the problem. Instead, allowing the unsuspecting public to hurt themselves. All the while, the business owner wants the public’s money, but does not care about the safety of it’s customers. Just give me the money.

Legitimate slip and fall, trip and fall cases generally involve a hidden danger that the visitor could not see. I have seen doorways that have a pit of death concealed just beyond the door frame entrance. I have seen a funnel of obstructions where the business owner unintentionally placed objects that funnel the public store traffic down a certain path. But the path has traps where the public is likely to injure themselves.

On the other hand, there are slip and fall cases where the pedestrian should have known there was an open and obvious danger to be avoided. Utah law states that it is a defense to the slip and fall case that the danger was open and obvious and that the user should have seen the danger and avoided it.

Snow and ice cases are terrible. Conditions on the land that generally should be seen with your two eyes are bad cases, where fault should not be found on the business owner.

If there is a condition on the land that is dangerous and hidden and you are hurt, you should call attorney Jacob S. Gunter for a free consultation. (801) 373-6345.