Palm Springs International Airport (PSP) is a public-use facility owned by the City of Palm Springs. The airport is open all year round, though most of its flights are during the winter, spring, and fall. PSP mostly offers domestic flights, though flights to Canada are offered by Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge, and WestJet. Relative to places like LAX, Palm Springs International Airport offers a calmer environment, as proven by their #3 ranking on Smarter Travel’s list of “America’s Most Stress-Free Airports.”
However, even the calmest airports are prone to accidents, especially slip and fall and trip and fall incidents. Most of these accidents are caused by dangerous conditions or careless conduct by the employees, like water from a leaking pipe, defective escalators, and failing to put away tools and equipment. If you or someone you know tripped over something or slipped and fell at the airport, you may be eligible for compensation through a personal injury lawsuit.
Our lawyers have decades of experience in the recovery of airport accident injury settlements. During a free consultation, we can go over the details of your accident and help you choose the course of action that’s in your best interest. Contact Normandie Law Firm at your earliest convenience and speak to a lawyer with experience in fall accident injuries at Palm Springs International Airport.
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Liability of an Airport for a Slip and Fall Accident
To succeed in a Palm Springs International slip and fall lawsuit, you must show that the airport failed in their duty of care to you as someone on their property. Under the law of premises liability, owners must take the necessary actions to keep their property safe for anyone that has a legitimate reason to be on the premises. Thus, if a guest or visitor slipped and fell from a hazard on the property, the owner is typically named as the liable entity in a slip and fall lawsuit.
A common example of airport accident liability involves trip and fall incidents on escalators. For instance, let’s say that the escalators came to a sudden stop, which caused you to trip over one of the steps. As a result, you fell off the escalators and sustained injuries to various parts of your body. Because the airport owners / operators are responsible for maintaining the escalators, they can be sued in a trip and fall lawsuit against Palm Springs International Airport.
Aside from faulty equipment, here are some other dangers that can lead to a fall-related accident at a California airport:
- Puddles and slippery substances on bathroom floors
- Slippery floors in airport cafes and restaurants
- Water around public drinking fountains
- Broken stairs or steps with cracks
- Broken hand rails
- Sticky floors (usually from improper cleaning techniques)
- Cracked or broken sidewalks
- Broken concrete and pot holes in parking areas
- Poor lighting
- Signs and displays with protruding edges
- Failure to place Wet Floor signs around spills
- Snow and black ice on the sidewalks
These conditions may be caused by entities operating within the airport, meaning that you may have a third party that can be blamed for your injuries. Third party liability claims are common with slip and falls in airport restaurants. These places are often understaffed and poorly managed, so it’s not unusual for accidents to occur from drink spills, broken appliances, and other slip and fall hazards. Based on the exact cause of the incident, a lawsuit may be filed against the restaurant owners, as well as Palm Springs International Airport.
Other than the airport, here are some examples of third parties that may be sued for a PSP trip and fall or slip and fall accident:
- Airlines – public and private
- Taxi company
- Rideshare service (Uber and Lyft for example)
- Public transportation company – Sunline, Amtrak Thruway, Morongo Basin Transit Authority
- Construction company
The takeaway from all this is that airport accident cases are complex legal actions, which are incredibly challenging to prove. With that in mind, please take some time to speak with a fall injury accident lawyer here at Normandie Law Firm. Our legal experts will take immediate action on your case and fight for every penny of the settlement you are owed from a Palm Springs International Airport accident claim.
Possible Injuries from Falling Down at Palm Springs International Airport
If you fell and got injured at Palm Springs International Airport, it’s essential to see a doctor right away. People tend to blow off these accidents as minor incidents, but you may have sustained serious injuries that require extensive treatment and rehabilitation. PSP airport slip and fall injuries include, but are not limited to:
- Skull fracture
- Brain injury
- Deep lacerations
- Broken bones
- Soft tissue injuries
- Dislocation or fracture of the kneecap
- Rupturing of the spleen
- Spinal cord damage
- Whiplash
- Broken hip
- Paralysis / loss of function
- Disfigurement
- Chronic pain
- Emotional injuries – panic attacks, phobias, depression, anxiety, insomnia, etc.
- Death
Fatality is a possible consequence from a trip and fall or slip and fall involving severe and complex injuries like hip fracture, traumatic brain injury, and spinal cord damage. Wrongful death benefits, such as funeral expenses, loss of consortium, and pain and suffering may be available to you if your loved one passed away from an accident at the airport. To discuss your rights with a lawyer experienced in wrongful death lawsuits, contact our law firm.
To-Do List After an Accident at the Airport
Building a strong case for a PSP slip and fall lawsuit starts from the moment you have been injured from a hazardous condition at the airport. Here are the steps we recommend:
- Immediately notify an airport employee (security guard, for example) that you’ve had an accident, so that they can write up an incident report.
- Stick to the facts when you are asked questions about the accident, and steer clear of incriminating statements, such as “I’m always tripping over things.”
- If you are able to, take photos or video footage of your injuries and the accident scene. Take photos of surveillance cameras in the area or make a note of where they are.
- If applicable, ask witnesses for their contact information and reach out to them later for witness statements.
- Seek treatment for your injuries right away, so that it’s clear that you were injured as a direct result of an accident at the airport.
- Save anything that can be used as evidence (medical records, witness statements, proof of days missed from work, damaged property, etc.)
- Contact a Palm Springs International Airport slip and fall lawyer, who can guide you through the legal process.
Available Compensation from a Lawsuit against Palm Springs International Airport
Once we have the necessary elements to prove a case of airport accident liability, we can go over the monetary damages that are available to you. Below is a list of the damages that may be included in your lawsuit:
- Medical costs, including future medical expenses for severe injuries
- Lost wages while you were out of work due to your recovery needs
- Lost earning potential if you are unable to resume your job duties
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Damage to your belongings
- Cost of hiring an attorney
- Punitive damages
Understanding each of these payments and how they apply to your circumstances is crucial for obtaining maximum payment from a PSP airport slip and fall lawsuit. For more information on what you can receive from a fall accident injury claim, contact us today.
Time Limit to File a PSP Trip and Fall Lawsuit or Slip and Fall Claim
Palm Springs International Airport is owned by the City of Palm Springs and operated by City of Palm Springs Aviation Department. That makes it a government (public) entity, which means you must file a claim with the city to initiate the legal process for a slip and fall or trip and fall lawsuit. The city has 45 days to respond to your claim from the time they receive the forms. If your claim is rejected, you have 6 months from the date of the denial notice to file a lawsuit. If 45 days have passed and there is no response from the city, your deadline to sue is 2 years from the date you were injured.
Please don’t wait to start the legal process for a fall-related injury claim, as the courts are very strict about filing deadlines for civil lawsuits. It’s extremely difficult to make a case for additional time if you are past the statute of limitations. That means you will most likely lose the right to sue Palm Springs International Airport, even if you have clear evidence of the airport’s negligence.
Our attorneys can answer any questions you have about the statute of limitations for an airport accident injury case. Call us to speak with a lawyer experienced in slip and fall accidents at Palm Springs International Airport.
Average Case Value if You Fall and Injure Yourself at Palm Springs International Airport
Due to the number of people that are in an airport at any given time, these facilities have the highest duty of care to inspect and maintain their properties. That’s why these are generally high value cases, though what you can recover is based on circumstances that are unique to your accident and the injuries you’ve suffered. For a lawsuit involving airport slip and fall injuries, a probable estimate range for case value is between $250,000 and $2 million and above. As for a Palm Springs International Airport trip and fall lawsuit, $175,000 to $2.5 million is a likely settlement range.
Keep in mind that this is general information, which may not reflect the amount you are owed from a lawsuit against Palm Springs International Airport. For assistance on calculating the approximate value of your own case, please schedule a consultation with a PSP slip and fall lawyer at our office.
How Long is the Process to Settle These Cases?
Ideally, we can negotiate a fair settlement on your behalf within 6 months from the processing of your injury claim. But timelines for these cases largely depend on the extent of your injuries and the amount of damages you are seeking. Considering that many of these accidents have serious consequences, it’s possible that your case will take 12 or more months to settle. Cases typically take the longest if and when we reach the lawsuit stage, as these are very complex legal actions. At this point, receiving your payment through a jury verdict can take 2 or more years.
Free Second Opinion
If you are concerned about an active compensation claim against PSP, please consider a free second opinion with one of our legal experts. Our Palm Springs International Airport trip and fall attorneys can provide you with a free case evaluation, which may alert you to certain issues that are harmful to your case. While we are happy to offer solutions to these issues, our main objective is to inform you of your legal rights. That’s why we offer this service at no cost to you, which means you have nothing to lose by contacting us for a free second opinion consultation.
Contact an Attorney for Slip and Fall Accidents at Palm Springs International Airport
Accident victims should not have to choose between making ends meet and hiring an experienced PSP airport slip and fall lawyer. That’s why we make all our services free to you from day one, and instead, ask for our payment from the City of Palm Springs.
What does this mean? With the Zero Fee Guarantee, you have the assurance of knowing that your finances are never at risk as we fight to bring you justice from an accident claim against Palm Springs International Airport. Furthermore, we only get paid by winning your case, so you owe us absolutely nothing if we fail to bring you compensation.
Our phone lines are open 24/7, so don’t hesitate to give us a call and learn about your legal options from a PSP trip and fall attorney or slip and fall lawyer.
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