How Do I Prove Poor Lighting Contributed to My Accident?

Artificial lighting may be a standard fixture in your daily life that you may not realize how essential it is until it is gone. That is, the more trouble you have seeing where you are walking, the more chance there is for a slip and fall. You may wonder if this, in and of itself, is enough for a valid, strong premises liability claim against a property owner. Well, please read on to discover how poor lighting can contribute to your accident and how a seasoned Passaic County slip and fall lawyer at the Law Offices of August R. Soltis can help you prove this factor in your legal claim.

What constitutes poor lighting in a premises liability case?

Upon initial reflection, you may believe “poor lighting” to be a subjective stance. However, for the sake of a premises liability case, poor lighting means a type or amount of lighting that lends to potentially hazardous conditions. With that, any of the following features may be correctly categorized as such:

• The bulbs within the lighting fixtures are flickering, dim, or completely burned out.
• Objects and architectural features greatly obstruct the illumination of the lighting fixtures.
• The illumination levels vary drastically within one space, casting bright spots and dark shadows.
• The lighting design for outdoor areas is poorly designed (i.e., parking lots, staircases, walkways, etc).

It is worth mentioning that the Florida Building Code even enforces specialized lighting requirements. For one, in swimming pools, artificial lighting is required at nighttime, or there is otherwise inadequate natural light, to ensure the entire pool bottom is visible without glare. Secondly, there are detailed lighting requirements for areas designated for hazardous materials.

How can I prove poor lighting contributed to my premises liability accident?

The Florida civil court may understand that poor lighting makes identifying obstructions, uneven surfaces, and other potential hazards in one’s walking path more difficult. However, you must still prove that poor lighting existed at the time of your accident and directly caused you to slip and fall. You may prove this with the following pieces of evidence:

• Photographs of the poor lighting conditions immediately following your slip and fall.
• A property owner’s maintenance records for the lighting fixtures of their premises.
• Testimony from fellow visitors about the difficult visibility at the time of your accident.
• Testimony from employees or frequent visitors regarding a property owner’s knowledge of the poor lighting.
• Expert testimony from a lighting specialist that compares the lighting on the premises to safe lighting standards.

It may help the outcome of your case if you can establish that you contributed no fault in the matter. That is, you may emphasize that you could not safely avoid the hazard that caused your slip and fall because the poor lighting hindered that. Further, you may establish that there was no other designated or safe path of travel besides the area with poor lighting.

To conclude, there is no need to go through the important step of presenting your legal case alone. Please seek the support and assistance of a competent Passaic County personal injury lawyer. Contact the Law Office of August R. Soltis today.