PREMISES LIABILITY FACTS AND STATISTICS
• 8,035,635 people in the U.S. were injured in 2007 as a result of unintentional falls according to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
• Unintentional falls were the leading cause (20%) of emergency department visits in 2006 according to the 2006 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.
• In 2006, there were 20,823 deaths in the U.S. resulting from unintentional falls as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Falls are the second most common cause of paralysis, with about 21% of all spinal cord injuries resulting from a slip or fall. (Brain & Spinal Cord.org)
• 28% of traumatic brain injury (TBI) cases are caused by falls, making falls the leading cause of TBI. (Brain Injury Association of Colorado)
• Spinal cord injuries resulting from slip and fall injuries occur most commonly in people ages 45 and older. (CDC)
• 474,826 people ages 65 and older in Colorado suffered from cervical spine injuries as a result of falls in 2006. (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment)
• The CDC reports that in 2007, falls were the leading cause of injury-
• Falls were the leading cause of nonfatal injury and the fourth leading cause of fatal injuries in all age groups in 2007. (CDC)
• Property owners have a legal responsibility to ensure the safety of their property, particularly when the public will be using that property.
• When someone has suffered an injury on someone else’s property, the property owner can be held financially liable if they were negligent.
• In Colorado, the injured party in a premises liability case carries the burden of proving the property owner knew or should have known of the dangerous condition on the property yet did nothing to correct it before the accident occurred.
• A victim’s ability to receive financial compensation from a property owner for a slip and fall accident depends on whether the victim was classified as a trespasser, licensee, or invitee at the time the accident occurred.