If the place where you slipped, tripped, and fell is part of the property of the owner’s location, and he/she is unable to take appropriate precautions or fix the problem that caused to the accident, the owner of the property will be held legally liable for your injury. The following are factors that can lead to conditions that may result to slip and fall accidents outdoors, and the regulations about the duties of the property owner in terms of these factors and conditions.

Ice or Snow Outside a Building

Basically, the law does not need the property owner to get rid of the ice or snow that builds up outside his/her building due to weather. But if the conditions on the property will create an unnatural build up of ice or snow, the owner of the property may be held responsible for any slip and fall accidents like when:

• Slopping surface of the parking lot can cause the melting ice to form puddles and refreeze into ice patches
• Ice builds up on the roof, and then it melts and drips off due to a clogged drain, and later refreeze into ice patches

Aside from these factors mentioned above, when the owner of the property chooses to give snow or ice removal, he/she must not do it negligently.

Insufficient Outdoor Lighting

Insufficient lighting may also result to accidents which involve slip and falls in the parking lots, trips over the curbing, falls on the step or stairs from parking lot to store, and trips and falls because of holes, cracks, and irregular surfaces. The owner of the property may be held responsible if he/she know or should have known the poor lighting and was unable to fix the problem or the situation.

Parking Lots

The owner of the parking lot is liable to maintain the parking lot in a way that it is reasonably safe for the people who are using it. This applies to filling and patching the holes and cracks. The differences in the height from one unit of the lot to another must be slowly instead of sudden to avoid tripping or slip and fall injuries.

Sidewalks

A property owner is not liable for the injuries which results from the slip and fall accident on a public sidewalk which is outside his/her property, but owned and maintained by the city or town. There are certain courts that oblige liability on a business for the injuries on a sidewalk that are used only by customers to and from the business, and a property owner should be responsible if the hazardous condition is present on his/her own private walkways.