Most Common Reasons for Hotel Accidents
Some of the most common reasons for hotel accidents include the following:
- Slip, trip, and fall hazards
- Defective exercise equipment or furniture
- Assaults
- Elevator accidents
- Food poisoning
- Drowning accidents
Falling victim to one of these accidents can lead to severe or even fatal injuries. If you or a loved one suffered a hotel accident, you have legal options. The Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato offers free case reviews. Call (954) 633-8270 to explore your options with our accident lawyers.
How Hotel Accidents Occur
Despite taking proper safety precautions and executing regular maintenance checks, guests can still sustain injuries in accidents at hotels. Potential reasons may involve:
Slip, Trip, and Fall Hazards
Staff must promptly resolve slip and fall hazards. If they can’t get to them in time, they must warn others of the danger. However, they may fall short of this responsibility, and someone may slip and fall because of:
- Cluttered hallways
- Loose carpeting
- Broken tiles or floorboards
- Slippery or uneven surfaces, especially around the pool area
- Poorly lit walkways
- Poorly marked steps or stairs
Defective Exercise Equipment or Furniture
Thousands of people use the equipment at a hotel’s gym every year. Even more use the chairs, beds, and couches in the rooms and lobbies. After a while, it all wears down and needs replacing. With that, the staff should regularly inspect all equipment and furniture and take the steps to fix or replace them if they’re no longer in proper condition.
Unfortunately, the hotel manager or staff might not take these issues seriously, especially if there are no visible problems with these items. Still, a chair could break when someone sits down, or an exercise machine could malfunction mid-set and cause a severe accident and injury.
Assaults
Hotels should enforce top-notch security to protect you from employees, other hotel guests, and outsiders. If the hotel doesn’t meet this standard of care, someone might be a victim of assault due to:
- Negligent security, if the staff doesn’t monitor who enters the premises
- A break-in, if windows and doors aren’t secured
- Assault from an employee or guest, especially if the hotel didn’t complete a thorough background check
Elevator Accidents
Even though elevators don’t usually have issues, they can cause injuries due to one of the following malfunctions:
- Defective Doors, if they close too quickly or don’t sense a passenger entering or exiting
- Electric Shocks, if wiring is exposed or poorly set up
- Missed Floors, if the elevator opens at the middle of a floor instead of at level with the floor
- Falling, if a computer or mechanical malfunction causes an elevator to fall multiple floors or travel too fast
Food Poisoning
With so many hotels offering room service and having restaurants on-site, they must undergo regular health and kitchen inspections to ensure no one is at risk of foodborne illnesses from bacteria, viruses, or parasites. Unfortunately, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that about 48 million people suffer from foodborne illnesses every year. Tragically, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 lose their lives. They might have faced exposure to Salmonella, hepatitis A virus, or Shigella.
Suffering from food poisoning usually constitutes grounds for legal action.
Drowning Accidents
Hotels must warn guests of potential drowning hazards when using a hot tub or swimming pool. In the event they fail, a near-drowning or drowning accident may occur. Some reasons for these incidents include:
- A lack of trained lifeguards or lifeguards in general
- Poor supervision
- Overcrowding
- Failure to conduct routine safety checks
- A lack of emergency or safety equipment
- Intoxication due to alcohol or drugs
The above are just a handful of hotel accidents. If you or a loved one was injured at a hotel, a personal injury lawyer in Fort Lauderdale from our team can determine your eligibility to file a claim or lawsuit.
Common Injuries Resulting From Hotel Accidents
Various injuries can stem from hotel accidents, such as:
- Cuts and bruises
- Burns
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
- Whiplash
- Spinal cord injuries (SCIs)
- Fractures or broken bones
Suffering injuries in a hotel accident may give you grounds to receive compensation for your damages. Compensable losses may include past and future medical expenses, lost income, reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, and mental anguish.
In some cases, victims may pass away from hotel accidents. In these instances, their surviving family members could benefit from a wrongful death claim or lawsuit. These cases can yield compensation for funeral/burial costs, final medical expenses, loss of financial support or income, and loss of care.
Learn More About the Most Common Reasons for Hotel Accidents
If you suffered injuries in a hotel accident, a Fort Lauderdale hotel accident lawyer from the Law Offices of Wolf & Pravato can help you bring the liable party to justice. We offer comprehensive legal help to accident claimants throughout South Florida. Call now for a free consultation at (954) 633-8270.
