Six people in Tennessee suffered injury Easter morning when a deck they were standing on collapsed. The group, which included a five-month-old child, plummeted 10 to 12 feet to the ground below. One woman’s leg was trapped under the deck after the collapse. Emergency responders did not realize, based on the first 911 call, just how serious the accident was.
Two of the victims were airlifted to medical facilities, including an elderly woman and the aforementioned infant. Injuries ranged from bumps and bruises to severe leg injuries. According to authorities, it is unclear what caused the accident.
PREMISES LIABILITY: UNSAFE DECKS ON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES
When a person visits a residential property, that person has a reasonable expectation that the property is safe. Under premises liability law, property owners have a duty of care to visitors to provide for their safety. If the owner breaches that duty of care, they can be liable for injuries. This concept is known as negligence, and negligence is the linchpin of any personal injury case, including deck collapse cases.
A property owner could be liable for negligence when he or she fails to maintain that property or could reasonably have foreseen injuries occurring on the property. So, those who own homes with decks are responsible for regularly inspecting those decks to ensure that they are safe, as well as maintaining them.
Deck collapses can injure or kill dozens of people in mere seconds. If you suffer injury in a deck collapse, a personal injury attorney can review the case for you to determine if you may have a claim.
Matthew 28:20 “Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”