We pass through automatic doors without a second thought all the time, but we never consider how they can injure us. We know to look both ways before crossing the street, but not what to do if an automatic sliding door suddenly closes on us. The injuries that can happen after a sliding door accident can be quite severe, especially if the victim were a child, elderly person, or physically handicapped individual. Our top-rated law group Normandie Law Firm is here to help all victims of automatic door accidents. We have served Riverside, California, for years, and will continue to provide service for years to come. Automatic door lawsuits will not stop coming in, and our experienced attorneys in Riverside are well-equipped to deal with these claims. Our clients have called us after getting hurt by sliding doors and have asked us about the best route to receiving compensation. We are often faced with these kinds of questions and others, such as:
- I need a lawyer in Riverside with experience handling premises liability claims. Who can I call?
- Where can I find an experienced attorney to help me file an automatic door accident lawsuit?
- Can I sue a property owner if a sliding door hurt me?
How Sliding Doors Cause Injury
Automatic doors are great inventions that increase the efficiency of entering and exiting facilities. Majority of the time, these doors function without a hitch and never have any problems. There are instances, however, wherein these doors malfunction in some way and cause injuries to those walking through them. It is imperative to have a good awareness of your surroundings so that you are not harmed by something as seemingly innocuous as an automatic door.
The most common forms of injury come from these doors closing on you. The door may have a sudden increase in speed or force itself shut despite there being an object or person in the path of the sensor. The sensor is there to alert the door and not allow it to close, but occasionally, these sensors and optics fail. Thus, you can be caught between the door and the wall, leading to crushing injuries, fractures, broken bones, lacerations, torn flesh, and more.
Doors that automatically swing open can do so without warning, and they may close with a certain amount of force if something malfunctions. You can be smacked or hit by one of these swinging doors, causing you to fall over or sustain injuries to your back, ankles, legs, and shoulders. A Riverside attorney can help you earn compensation for these injuries.
In general, those most often hit by automatic doors are those who are unable to adequately protect themselves or who are not keenly aware of their surroundings: the elderly and young children. Many elderly individuals walk slower than younger people, and sliding doors may hit them before they can react; further, due to age, they may have a lifetime of injuries that can worsen after being struck. Children, on the other hand, have very good reflexes but may not always pay attention. If they are struck by a swinging door or injured by a sliding door, they may suffer severe damages because of how much smaller and more fragile they are than other people.
One of the most debilitating types of injuries that can occur involves a door that falls off its track. Many automatic doors are fitted with glass windows of some kind, and if a door falls on you, the glass can shatter, resulting in hundreds of small stab wounds and bits of glass embedded in your skin. You can dozens of lacerations and bruises, and the risk of infection is very high. A glass door injury lawyer can help you file a lawsuit against the responsible party.
There are numerous reasons these doors may cause injuries. Occasionally, the doors were improperly designed or manufactured; there could be design defects that were not caught during development, for instance, or there was an error during the manufacturing process that affected whole batches of the product. They may have been improperly installed by the company when the business was being erected, and it was thus just a matter of time before something broke. Most likely, the business owner did not practice proper maintenance of the doors. If automatic doors are not regularly inspected, cleaned, and taken care of, they may break or malfunction and cause injuries. It does not take a lot of effort or time, but many business owners are content to take the risk and save money instead of ensuring the safety of their customers.
Common Locations of Automatic Doors
Sliding doors can be found in many businesses, both large and small, as well as in various other buildings. You may notice that you enter different sections in a hospital, office building, and school through automatic doors. A grocery store like Ralph’s or Vons also tends to feature automatic doors to accommodate customers pushing heavy shopping carts. Other places where sliding doors are the main form of entering and exiting include shopping centers, malls, outlet stores (Target, Walmart, and K-Mart), and airports.
Locations like these all have high numbers of people coming in and out on a daily basis. Automatic doors make it easy for everyone to enter the premises and exit in an orderly fashion. In case of an emergency, they are less likely to contribute to injuries; they will usually stay open without assistance, whereas normal doors need to be held open and may be let go, causing people to get stuck.
If you need a skilled lawyer with expertise in personal injury claims who can help you sue for injuries caused by an automatic door, contact our Riverside law firm today.
Filing a Premises Liability Claim
The chances of you being injured by an automatic door due to the negligence of the property owner is higher than the door being improperly manufactured. You should be aware that you have certain rights as a customer in a store and that you are afforded the highest level of care. The property owner must divulge to you that there are certain dangers when entering the premises, and he must also take care to avoid those dangers being present in the first place. His negligent actions could make him wholly responsible for your injuries.
A premises liability claim with respect to an automatic door injury would show that the property owner had a care of duty to you, the invitee to the property, and he breached that duty by not taking proper care of the door. That negligence led to an accident which in turn caused you real physical harm. All four of these points of negligence must be met in order for your claim to be successful.
Our expert attorneys in Riverside, California, are willing to stand by your side and represent you in court to bring you the compensation you deserve from an automatic door injury.
Normandie’s Role
Normandie Law Firm is here to fight for your rights as a victim of an automatic door injury. We will aid you in getting your medical expenses covered and lost wages reimbursed, as well as strive to have your pain and suffering compensated. We believe business owners are responsible for the injuries of their patrons, especially if those injuries could have been prevented in some way. Our empathetic team of attorneys is the best choice for you to receive restitution from automatic door injuries.
Call us today to receive a free legal consultation about your case. A lawyer with expertise in automatic door injuries will talk with you about your case and give you any legal advice you need. You are invited to ask any questions and we will give you insightful, thoughtful answers; we believe all of our clients should be properly informed before taking legal action.
Our law firm offers you a zero fee guarantee on your claim should you take us on to legally represent you. You will not pay a dime out of pocket for our services – our fees are collected only if we win your case, and only from the settlement we earn for you. If we lose, you don’t owe us anything at all.
To speak to a qualified automatic door accident attorney in Riverside, contact Normandie Law Firm today.
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Automatic Door Personal Injury in San Diego, CA
