Every property owner has a responsibility to ensure the premises of their buildings are safe for anyone who enters them for a lawful purpose. While this includes obvious duties like cleaning up spills to prevent falls, an often overlooked responsibility is to ensure the premises have proper lighting. Because when a building has poor lighting, it can make things more dangerous for everyone.
The Property Owner’s Duty of Care
Legally speaking, everyone has something known as a “duty of care.” In simple terms, this is the legal responsibility people have to avoid causing harm to others through negligent or reckless actions. While everyone has a basic duty to avoid engaging in actions they know are likely to cause people harm, property owners have an additional set of responsibilities towards the tenants, customers, and visitors on their property. This includes the responsibility to protect people from foreseeable hazards, and to maintain the property to avoid potential dangers.
The Duty of Care and Lighting
One of the most important ways property owners can protect people on the premises of their buildings is to ensure it is properly lit. This means ensuring there is adequate lighting installed in and around the building in any location where people will frequently walk. This includes, but is not limited to hallways, stairwells, side rooms, and parking lots. It also means ensuring lights are adequately maintained, with burnt-out light bulbs being regularly replaced and any electrical problems being dealt with promptly.
What Happens If The Lighting is Not Sufficient
When an area is not properly lit, it can lead to a variety of potential problems. People have difficulty seeing in poorly lit areas, which can make it more likely that they will suffer an accidental injury. In addition, poorly lit areas are considered attractive for certain types of criminals, especially stairwells and parking lots. People, therefore, are at a higher risk of being mugged or assaulted in places with poor lighting.
What to Do if You Are Injured Due to Poor Lighting
If you have suffered an injury on someone else’s property that might have been prevented if there were better lighting, you may have legal options available to you. A lawyer with experience handling personal injury cases can go over the facts of your case and create a legal strategy that suits your needs. The sooner you call, the sooner they can get to work getting you the compensation you deserve.
If you or a loved one have been injured due to someone else’s negligence, you should seek out the personal injury lawyers at Zlotolow & Associates. Our seasoned New York personal injury attorneys bring more than two decades of trial experience to your case. We serve all five boroughs of New York City, as well as Nassau and Suffolk County. Our aggressive personal injury attorneys always demand maximum compensation. We have helped thousands of clients recover through settlements and courtroom verdicts.
