You may, of course, chaperone your child as they trick-or-treat on Halloween to ensure their safety. However, despite your best efforts, you may be unable to protect your child from every possible danger. That is, there may be a potentially hazardous condition on someone else’s property that you cannot reasonably identify ahead of time. With that, your child may unfortunately encounter it and be made the victim of a serious accident. If so, please read on to discover how to respond if your child gets injured while trick-or-treating and how a seasoned Miami slip & fall lawyer at the Law Offices of Gonzalo Funes, PA, can help you explore your legal options.
How might my child get injured on someone else’s property?
The only thing seemingly scary about someone else’s property may be their Halloween decorations. But there may be underlying dangers throughout the premises that make your child vulnerable to injury while trick-or-treating. Examples of this are as follows:
- Your child may slip and fall from cracked or uneven pavement along the front walkway.
- Your child may slip and fall over Halloween decorations or their electrical wires cluttering the front walkway.
- Your child may slip and fall after grabbing a loose handrail or stepping on an unfastened step on a front stairway.
- Your child may slip and fall due to fog machines or dim lighting associated with the exterior Halloween decorations.
What should I do if my child is injured while trick-or-treating?
You may believe that a property owner was truly negligent in welcoming your child to trick-or-treat at their front door when they knew or should have reasonably known that their property was unsafe. If your child got seriously injured as a result, and you were stuck paying medical bills and other related expenses, you may feel inclined to pursue a lawsuit. Luckily, in the state of Florida, you may serve as your child’s legal representative when they are too young to defend themselves.
Sadly, you must be prepared for the possibility that the defendant may accuse your child of being careless and the major contributor to the accident. For example, they may claim that your child exhibited poor impulse control, which led to their slip and fall (i.e., running on the walkway, jumping down the front stairs, etc). Or, they may blame their costume for causing them to slip, if they had a full-face mask that obstructed their vision or a gown or cape that dragged on the floor.
If this blog has deeply resonated with your personal situation and concerns thus far, please reach out to a competent Miami-Dade County injury lawyer for more information. The team at the Law Offices of Gonzalo Funes, PA, will be glad to represent you in your upcoming legal case.
