Hospitals have noted an increase in the number of injuries to patients from falls due to the snow and ice. Typically, hospitals are seeing more and more attendances for injuries such as simple strains and minor fractures of the ankle, elbow, forearm and shoulder.
This raises some interesting questions. What if you have suffered an injury yourself in a road traffic accident or in a fall due to the snow and ice - can you bring a claim against the local authority? Can somebody bring a claim against you if they fall on the snow and ice in front of your home after you have cleared your pathway? Can you pursue a claim for suffering a fall due to snow and ice whilst on a public highway or someone else's premises? Responsibilities of the Local Authority It is said that under the Highways Act 1980 the local authority is responsible for ensuring 'safe passage' along a highway so far as is reasonably practicable. The definition of highways includes adopted roads and public footpaths. Section 58 of the Highways Act 1980 gives local authorities a defence against many claims where snow and ice are involved. This defence to such claims states that they only have to clear the highways where it is reasonably practicable to do so. In this day and age local Authorities often have limited financial resources and so there is no requirement to keep all routes clear, all the time. This makes it difficult to pursue such claims. Responsibilities of an occupier What if you are in your own home or visiting someone else's home or premises? What responsibilities do occupiers have? Could you or they be held liable for an accident that occurs? Private homeowners or occupiers of houses do not have an obligation to clear snow or ice from a public highway. However, if you do clear the snow and ice and then someone is injured as a result, could you be held responsible? Potentially, yes you can. If you clear the snow away but do so inadequately or less satisfactorily than you should which then leaves ice (which is often worse than the snow) then you may be liable to passers by who fall and injure themselves. This is because you owe a common law duty of care to others (also called the law of negligence). You should not do anything that makes an area unsafe for others. It is the responsibility of an occupier to take 'reasonable care' to ensure that any visitor is safe. If you run a business where you expect to receive customers then the same principle applies. You must ensure that entrances and exits from your premises are maintained in a condition that is safe and as far as possible, without risk to the visitor. So the issue is not just whether you have attempted to clear the snow or not. As an occupier you can be held responsible for injuries caused by 'failing to act reasonably' in order to prevent accidents. The moral of this is if you decide that clearing snow away is the best way to keep yourself and others safe, then do it extremely thoroughly! Of course, anyone wanting to pursue a claim for an accident in the snow must still prove their claim on what is called the balance of probabilities. That is to say that it must be more likely than not that negligence was likely to have caused the accident. As a claimant you should try to collect persuasive, compelling evidence of the state of the area where the accident took place - such as photographs and also obtain supportive witness evidence or you may find that your claim is less likely to succeed. For further information about pursuing a claim for personal injury, please contact David Brown or Kevin Bostock at [email protected] or [email protected] or by telephone on 0114 2666660.
