Slip-and-fall accidents can result from someone not doing their job, a wet floor, a cracked sidewalk left unattended for months, or a stairwell light not replaced. These are not always minor injuries either. People suffer serious injuries such as broken bones, head trauma, and lasting mobility problems that can require extensive medical treatment. 

Property owners aren’t expected to guarantee a perfect environment around the clock. They are required to take reasonable steps to keep the people on their property safe. If you slipped and fell on a property while working or visiting, you do have the right to pursue a personal injury claim. Contact our slip and fall injury attorneys at Petrillo & Goldberg today to learn more about your legal options. 

Why Do Slip and Fall Accidents Happen So Often?

Familiarity breeds complacency, both for property owners and visitors. Customers in a grocery store, tenants heading to the laundry room, shoppers cutting through a parking lot, none of them are expecting a hazard. They’re just walking.

Sometimes the danger appeared minutes before the fall. A spill, a tracked-in puddle, a freshly mopped floor with no sign posted nearby. Other times, the problem had been sitting there for weeks, the result of deferred maintenance or inspections that never happened. That’s part of what makes these cases complicated.

Wet Floors and Slippery Entry Areas

Entrances are one of the first places people fall. A busy afternoon near Broad Street means constant foot traffic in and out of shops, and water builds up fast at the door. No mats, no signage, nobody wiping it down. That’s all it takes. And it doesn’t have to be a puddle. A leaking cooler, a restroom that was just cleaned, a drink someone knocked over in the aisle. Even a little moisture on smooth tile is dangerous.

Uneven Sidewalks, Pavement, and Walking Surfaces

Not every fall involves something wet. Cracked concrete, raised pavement edges, potholes, broken curbs, loose bricks; these are tripping hazards, and they’re common around older commercial buildings and busy public areas in Woodbury. 

Outdoor surfaces wear down. When repairs get pushed back, eventually somebody catches their foot on that raised edge while carrying groceries or pushing a stroller and goes down hard.

Injuries from trips are just as serious as those from slips, such as broken wrists or fractured hips.

Poor Lighting in Stairs, Hallways, and Outdoor Areas

A dark stairwell hides a lot. Water, debris, an uneven step edge, a riser that’s slightly off; things people would normally step around become invisible. This is a consistent problem in older apartment buildings, mixed-use commercial spaces, and parking structures. A burned-out bulb sounds trivial. In the wrong spot, it’s how someone misses a step entirely.

Loose Mats, Rugs, and Floor Coverings

Floor mats cause more falls than people expect. A corner that’s started to curl, a runner that slides a little every time someone steps on it, a mat near the entrance that’s waterlogged and uneven. These don’t look dangerous. That’s exactly why they don’t get fixed. Someone steps on the edge wrong, and the mat moves with them, or catches their toe, and they’re on the ground before they realize anything was wrong.

Snow, Ice, and Slush Around Woodbury Properties

NJ winters, especially those that are similar to the one we experienced this past winter, can create liability issues for property owners. Untreated ice, slush tracked into a lobby, and staircases that are salted but never shoveled, or shoveled but never salted, create risks for visitors.

Falls on ice tend to be bad. Instinctively, people throw out their hands to catch themselves, which is how wrists break. Hip fractures, shoulder injuries, and head trauma from ice falls are common and often serious.

Broken Stairs and Missing Handrails

Staircase falls are among the worst. One loose step or a handrail that pulls away from the wall can send someone down multiple stairs. Injuries tend to be more severe than a fall on flat ground because there’s nothing to land on safely. Older stores, apartment buildings, and office buildings often have stairs that haven’t been inspected or repaired in years. If a defect has been there long enough, it becomes very hard to argue that the owner didn’t know about it.

Debris, Clutter, and Poor Housekeeping

A box left in an aisle, an extension cord across a walkway, cleaning equipment parked where customers walk, cluttered spaces cause falls, too. Good housekeeping is one of the simplest ways a business can protect people on its property. When it’s neglected, visitors get hurt in places they had every reason to feel safe.

Contact Our Woodbury Slip and Fall Attorneys at Petrillo & Goldberg Today

Call Petrillo & Goldberg Law at 856-249-9295. When you hire us, you get a team. We stay in close contact with our clients every step of the way. Our legal team is here to understand your unique situation because your road to recovery matters.