Untold numbers of horrendous falls and grievous injuries could be prevented in South Carolina if stores and businesses would just place a single wet floor sign or another warning.
Victims of South Carolina slip and fall accidents are right to wonder if wet floor signs are required by law. The answer is yes—and no.
No, there’s no written law on the books.
But yes, the law can hold careless businesses accountable for serious injuries when a wet floor sign, cone, or barricade should have been placed on the floor to warn unsuspecting customers. It’s under the so-called common law, which enforces safety by forcing careless businesses to pay settlements to victims for the harm and loss they suffer.
The challenge for victims is knowing how to prove the store was careless, or negligent as the legal term goes, for not placing the sign. The South Carolina legal standard is complex and tough to overcome. Getting a settlement in a South Carolina slip and fall case requires professional knowledge of both the law and how to use evidence to win your case.
If you’re worried about satisfying the legal standard in South Carolina in your slip and fall accident, we’re Spartanburg personal injury attorneys who know how to use the law and the evidence to win a case. Check out how we've done that in this helpful article on how we got settlements for different clients in South Carolina slip or trip and fall accident cases. To get your questions answered by us, call toll-free at 888-230-1841 or fill out a Get Help Now form.
Proving A South Carolina Slip & Fall Case
We know winning a legal case means more than just establishing we can satisfy the bare requirements of the law. We’ve also got to address some human factors since that’s who decides your case if it goes to trial. And in our experience, the humans we need to hold the store accountable—the jury—will be a little skeptical about someone slipping and falling. We call that the “Why didn’t you look where you were going? defense”—so we’ve developed ways to overcome that.
Basically, to win your case, you’ve got to prove you exercised common sense and fell because the store didn’t.
Here are some primary questions we’ve got to address in any case involving the lack of a wet floor sign in a South Carolina slip and fall:
- Who put the water, or the substance that caused your fall, on the floor? Before the store can be held accountable, you have to prove employees knew or should have known the substance was on the floor. Legally, it’s called “notice.” If the store put it there, such as by mopping the floors, you’ve crossed a major hurdle. When the store puts it there, you’ve proved notice. If the store didn’t put it there, it gets really tricky. You’ve got to prove “constructive notice,” meaning the store should have known it was there. Major ways we might prove constructive notice include store surveillance video, “store sweep logs” showing how often employees walked the floors to make sure they were safe, and testimony from employees about how often they walked the store including the specific area where you fell.
- How long was the water or substance on the floor? This can be important in proving constructive notice.
- Why didn’t you see it anyway? It’s vital to victory that we prove you exercised common sense. We’ve got to have a good, honest answer for why you didn’t see what you fell in. It could get especially complicated if the substance was smelly, like an intense cleaning product or vinegar in a grocery store.
If You’re Seriously Hurt in a Slip and Fall, Don’t Risk Slipping Up in Your Case
Insurance companies who defend South Carolina stores and businesses know the law is tricky for amateurs like you. They’ll use it against you to discourage you because you don’t know any better. They’ll call you a liar. They’ll tell you that you can’t prove they knew about the spill. They’ll tell you they did nothing wrong, and it’s all your fault because you didn’t look where you were going. They don’t even care if what they tell you is wrong.
When you’re seriously hurt, there are many reasons to hire an accident injury attorney, but it’s especially important if your case involves a fall. Yes, the law is complex, and your case is challenging. But it can be won by a sharp, determined attorney who’s devoted to helping you. That’s where we come in as Spartanburg personal injury lawyers.
Start laying the foundation of a solid case by talking to a professional. You can contact us with a live chat, fill out a Get Help Now form, or call toll-free at 888-230-1841. For accident injury cases, we offer a FREE, EASY strategy session to answer your questions and give you a clear view of what the law offers in your case.
Don’t take our word for it. Let our real clients do it for you—check out their reviews on an attorney review website we don’t own and Google.
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