Technically speaking, a slip and fall is the same whether it occurs on the deck of a vessel or in a puddle of a supermarket parking lot. Realistically, however, the circumstances behind many vessel slip and falls are much more extensive than cases that typically occur ashore. Wikipedia defines slip and fall as a “claim or case based on a person slipping (or tripping) and falling.” It is a tort based on a property owner’s negligence for allowing a dangerous condition that was responsible for the accident. Unfortunately, to the general public, a slip and fall case conjures up ambulance chasing attorneys and chronic nuisance case filers staging falls on a wet floor. Ashore, a slip and fall case can be based on something as simple as the absence of one of those wet floor signs. In fact, a woman is currently suing a Beaumont, Texas McDonald’s for this very reason, claiming she fell on water on the floor and that no signs were present to warn her of a hazardous condition. On a vessel, so many more factors come into play: the vessel may be rolling, uneven boards may be used for flooring (as happened in a present lawsuit), absence of non-skid strips, rusted railings breaking loose, spilled hydraulic fluid, loose objects rolling on the deck, unseen piping across the deck without yellow caution paint in dim lighting, and numerous other factors.
Hopefully when people read about a vessel slip and fall lawsuit, they keep an open mind and realize there is probably more to the story than the frivolous tone of a simplistic headline.
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