Many dangers lurk on the Las Vegas Strip. Some top causes of personal injury accidents on the Strip include wet floors from food and liquid spills, poor lighting, overcrowding, fights, lack of adequate security, defective furniture, contaminated food, and reckless drivers. You have a right to pursue compensation if your injuries on the Strip result from someone else’s negligence.
Causes of Personal Injury Accidents
The world-famous Las Vegas Strip is a four-mile stretch that attracts more than 35 million visitors each year. Unfortunately, the hundreds of bars, restaurants, casinos, theaters, and nightclubs that line the Strip and the pedestrians, cars, buses, and limos that occupy it increase the chances of different types of accidents and injuries occurring. Here’s more on the common causes of personal injury accidents on the Las Vegas Strip and the issues around liability for the injuries sustained.
Inadequate Lighting
Inadequate lighting is a common cause of slip and fall accidents. Just like it’s easier to slip and fall at home on poorly-lit stairwells and pathways, poor lighting makes it more difficult to navigate staircases safely in commercial establishments. Poorly-lit walking areas make it harder to see and avoid potential hazards. When poor lighting occurs together with other risks, the chances of sustaining severe injuries increase. Lack of quality lighting can contribute to assaults and thefts.
Many lighting-related accidents and injuries are preventable. Businesses have a duty to provide appropriate illumination for the safety of their employees and customers. If lights burn out or break, they should notice and rectify the issue in a reasonable amount of time. Bar owners may want to use dimmer lighting to create a particular ambiance. Nevertheless, they should take proper care of bar furniture and other obstructions that could cause customers to trip and fall when the lights are dim.
When a business doesn’t take reasonable steps to prevent lighting-related accidents, it can be held liable for the resulting damages if an accident happens.
Failing to Clean Spilled Food and Drinks
Spills of food or drinks are common in bars, nightclubs, and restaurants. They commonly cause slip and fall accidents. Staff should notice and clean up spills quickly and mark off areas with wet surfaces to keep guests safe. The property owners may be liable for injuries sustained when a patron slips on spilled food or drink that employees failed to clean.
Poorly Maintained Furniture
Maintenance of furniture, especially chairs, is crucial at hotels and casinos on the Las Vegas Strip due to the high number of customers that use them daily. Hotels and casinos have a duty of care to regularly inspect and maintain their chairs to ensure they’re safe for patrons. Chairs can wear down after years of recurrent use. If they aren’t put together or maintained properly, they can collapse and cause dangerous fall accidents. Injuries sustained could include head, hand, arm, neck, and back injuries.
Guests can trip and fall when tables and chairs are spaced incorrectly. It’s vital for hotels and nightclubs to arrange tables and chairs systematically and provide adequate space for guests to fit easily between the furniture.
A Las Vegas personal injury lawyer can help you hold a business accountable if you sustain injuries in an accident involving furniture.
Overcrowding
Crowded conditions increase the risk of accidents or injuries taking place. When bars and nightclubs allow too many people into their establishments, the crowded environment can lead to overheating, exhaustion, shoving, and slip and fall accidents. In case of an emergency, overcrowding can lead to trampling and difficulty in evacuating people.
Las Vegas nightclubs are required to admit a reasonable number of people at any given time. Liability can fall on the club when accidents and injuries occur when the establishment is overcrowded.
Negligent Security
Inadequate security personnel or safety measures leave guests vulnerable to attacks. Las Vegas Strip visitors frequently carry huge amounts of cash or cards with them. They can become targets for robberies and assaults, especially if property owners fail to provide adequate security. Negligent security can also allow rape, kidnapping, and other violent crimes to occur. When a guest becomes a victim of a crime at an establishment, that could be a clear sign of the property owner’s failure to implement adequate security measures.
Bars, nightclubs, and hotels can be held liable for the crimes committed on their property if they fail to provide adequate security and supervision to reduce the risk of crimes on their premises.
Fights
Fights are common in bars, restrooms, and parking lots. Drug or alcohol intoxication, disputes over losses or winnings, jealousy, and rivalry are some factors that trigger fights. Security guards sometimes escalate violent situations instead of breaking up the fights. Bouncers can use excessive force against patrons.
Fights cause injuries like:
- Cuts
- Concussions
- Bruises
- Fractures
- Internal bleeding
Some fights can turn fatal. Innocent bystanders can also suffer injuries from flying objects, broken glass, and aggressive bouncers.
You may be entitled to recover damages from the other guest who attacked you. The bar or nightclub could also be liable if it didn’t provide enough security to prevent the attack or break up the fight. The establishment could also be liable if it allowed an unruly customer to stay and that customer later attacked you, or if your assailant had been over-served drinks despite being clearly intoxicated. If you sustained injuries because of an overly aggressive security guard or staff member, you can also hold the establishment as well as the specific employee responsible.
Food Poisoning
Hotel guests can become seriously ill and require hospitalization because of food poisoning. Poor kitchen hygiene, improper food preparation, failure of staff to wash their hands, and poor storage can lead to food poisoning. Symptoms of food poisoning include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fever, stomach cramps, and dehydration. Organ failure can occur in serious cases.
Hotels, casinos, and nightclubs have a duty to protect the health and safety of guests. If you suffered injuries and damages due to bad food, you could have a valid claim for compensation.
Cuts From Broken Glass
Patrons at nightclubs commonly encounter broken bottles and other glassware. They are major causes of cuts and puncture wounds. Severe cuts could take time to heal.
Negligent Driving
The Strip is rife with distractions. The area has numerous drivers who are speeding, drunk or intoxicated, distracted, or generally negligent while racing on the stretch. The Strip also sees a huge volume of visitors who are unfamiliar with the area. Consequently, the Strip is a high-risk zone for motor vehicle accidents.
One study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that motor vehicle collisions involving visitors in Nevada were mostly concentrated around the Strip. Many visitors choose to walk between the attractions on the Las Vegas Strip, especially at night. The entrances and exits of the buildings, parking lots, and crosswalks put vehicles and pedestrians in proximity to each other. Add these to the bright lights and vibrant entertainment, and it’s a cocktail for motor vehicle or pedestrian accidents.
People also utilize shuttle buses to travel to different places within the Strip. Shuttle accidents occur for various reasons, including drunk driving, traffic violations, and neglecting essential vehicle maintenance. Taxi accidents also commonly occur in the Strip’s popular and congested areas.
Steps to Take After a Personal Injury Accident
If you’ve suffered a personal injury accident, the steps you take right away will help you build a successful legal claim.
Get Medical Help
You should see a doctor right after your accident, even if you feel your symptoms are minor. Some symptoms can take hours, days, or weeks to manifest. The medical records generated from your treatment will help link your injury to the accident and could later serve as crucial evidence.
Document the Incident
If possible, take pictures and videos of the scene of the accident and your injuries. Make sure you capture any hazards that could have contributed to your accident. You should also write down everything you remember about the accident before your memory fades.
Gather Witness Contact Information
Get the contact details of any eyewitnesses. Having their contact information makes it easier to get their statements later.
Report the Accident
You should report your accident to the relevant authority, such as a hotel manager or owner. Make sure an official report of the incident is created. Ask for a copy of the report. Don’t make statements or sign anything from the establishment or insurance company without talking to a legal professional.
Contact a Lawyer
Finally, contact a personal injury lawyer to help you build your case. Personal injury lawyers usually work on a contingency basis, so you won’t pay a fee until they collect a settlement or judgment for you.
How a Las Vegas Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help You
A personal injury lawyer will take the time to understand the details of your case to help you establish whether you have a valid claim for compensation. He or she will then guide you through every step of the process of pursuing a claim.
Helps You Avoid Mistakes
If you file a personal injury claim or lawsuit without a lawyer, you’ll be held to the same standards as you would if you had one. You would need to follow all the formalities for filing the case documents, presenting evidence, fulfilling the burden of proof, and meeting all the necessary deadlines in Nevada. Making a mistake could significantly compromise your case.
Having legal representation prevents you from missing deadlines and making errors that could hurt your case. A personal injury lawyer based in Las Vegas will handle all the paperwork for you and keep you within the stipulated time limits that apply in Nevada.
Levels the Playing Field
When you file a personal injury claim, you enter into a legal battle with the at-fault party’s insurers and his or her highly-paid attorneys. They will provide fierce opposition to your claim and will dispute any liability. They usually try to get victims to admit they were partially or completely at fault for their accident to reduce or deny their claim. Going against them on your own can be quite challenging.
A personal injury attorney evens the playing field. A skilled attorney will be familiar with the tactics of insurance adjusters and will counter them and deal with the insurance companies and lawyers involved directly to advocate for and protect your best interests.
Gathers All Relevant Evidence
A personal injury attorney will conduct comprehensive investigations of your accident and gather and preserve all the relevant evidence to support your case. This evidence may include:
- Video footage of your accident
- Photos of the condition that led to your injuries
- Expert testimony
- Opinions from accident reconstructionists
- Witness statements
After reviewing the evidence, your attorney will determine the parties you should hold responsible for your injuries.
Documents and Calculates Your Damages
Your personal injury lawyer will assess the damages that you could recover as a result of the liable party’s negligence. Your lawyer will quantify both your financial and non-financial losses to determine a fair monetary figure for all your damages. The damages you may pursue include medical bills, lost wages, lost earning capacity, future medical care, property damage, and pain and suffering.
Your lawyer will document your damages by obtaining and organizing your medical records, bills, X-rays, past income statements, and expert testimony concerning your damages. This will help you maintain a strong position during settlement negotiations.
Engages in Settlement Negotiations
A personal injury lawyer will negotiate a settlement for you. Equipped with documentation of the damages suffered and evidence of the defendant’s negligence, your lawyer will use his or her negotiation skills to reach a fair and just settlement that meaningfully covers your losses. Insurance companies will hesitate to offer you a fair settlement if you don’t have a lawyer on your side.
Represents You in Court
Personal injury lawyers mostly resolve cases out of court. However, if your injury case goes to trial, your lawyer will formulate a strong legal strategy, draft and file the necessary court filings, attend hearings, present the relevant evidence, and fight for you during trial.
