If you are traveling to the Dallas area for business or pleasure this holiday season, staying in a hotel can give you access to nearby attractions while providing a place to relax and enjoy your trip. Let’s be honest, who doesn’t love the Dallas area around the holidays?
There are more activities to do than days to do them! Still, it is important to know that hotel accidents and injuries do occur, and the hotel can be liable for those injuries. Hotels have a duty to ensure the premises are safe for guests and must take reasonable steps to prevent accidents and injuries from happening on their property.
When a hotel guest suffers an injury, speaking to a capable and caring Texas personal injury attorney is recommended.
Common Types of Hotel Injuries in Texas
Many types of injuries happen at hotels, ranging from accidents and injuries because of substances on the hotel restaurant floor to defective walkway surfaces and negligent security, resulting in a third-party assault.
Most hotel accident claims will fall under the category of premises liability, an area of personal injury law. The following are some of the most common hotel accident and injury claims Genthe Law Firm handles.
Premises Liability
There are many types of premises liability claims, and they all come about because a property owner fails to take reasonable steps to make the property conditions safe for others or warn about property risks.
Most hotel accidents and injuries will be filed as premises liability claims in which the injured person has the burden to prove that the hotel did not keep the premises in a safe condition or failed to warn guests about a hazard on the property.
Slips, Trips, and Falls
Slips, trips, and falls can occur almost anywhere in a hotel, resulting in serious and even fatal injuries. Most often, slips and falls at hotels result from liquid or food left on the floor.
Trips and falls can also happen in places with damaged or uneven carpeting, cluttered walkways, lack of appropriate lighting, or inadequate stair rails.
In all of these circumstances, hotel staff should provide guests with a barricade or warning and actively remove the hazard(s) to remedy any potential injuries.
Negligent Security and Assaults
Negligent security is another area of premises liability involving a hotel being liable for injuries caused by a third-party assault on a guest. While this type of case can be complicated, hotels have a duty to ensure that their premises are reasonably safe from foreseeable criminal activity.
For example, if a hotel has improper door-locking mechanisms in several rooms, the hotel has a responsibility to repair that door-locking issue. If not, the hotel could be liable for a third-party assault that occurred in the hotel room.
Further, if a hotel knows that it has a history of assaults in certain areas or at particular times of day, the hotel may employ a security guard to provide safety for the guests. The hotel may be responsible for circumstances regardless of who committed the assault.
Elevator or Escalator Accidents
Most people do not think about injury risks when they are getting on an elevator or an escalator. Elevators and escalators can cause serious and deadly injuries. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), incidents involving elevators and escalators kill about 30 and seriously injure about 17,000 people each year in the United States.
Of these numbers, elevators cause almost 90% of the deaths and 60% of the serious injuries. There are various ways in which elevators can malfunction or cause serious injuries in Dallas hotels.
In elevators, a few common malfunctions include failure of the pulley system that results in a sudden drop, doors that will not close and expose riders to the elevator shaft, and improper leveling of the elevator with the floor when the elevator comes to a stop.
These is just to name a few! Hotels may be liable for any of these accidents if the hotel failed to have the elevator properly maintained or to repair a hazard.
Been Injured in an Accident? Let Genthe Law Group Help Brighten Up Your Situation
Getting in an accident during the holiday season can damper festivities, especially when it results in a debilitating injury. If you or a loved one were recently injured in a slip and fall accident, car accident, or any other incident involving neglect and injury, Genthe Law Firm wants to help. Our team of dedicated personal injury lawyers has seen it all and can help you recoup your maximum payout from insurance companies and guilty parties.
Schedule your free consultation today and learn more about our Genthe Guarantee that ensures you don’t pay us a cent this holiday season unless we recover.
