No one expects to suffer serious harm when they visit one of Philadelphia’s green spaces; however, accidents happen. If you do get into this situation, it’s important to know your legal rights after an injury in a public park.
Whether it’s a slip-and-fall accident, an assault, or an injury caused by unsafe conditions, you may be entitled to compensation. However, you’ll need to prove negligence on the part of some other party in most cases. This is easier said than done, especially if you’re up against the public authority in charge of the park in question.
Here, we explain everything you need to know about public park injury liability, and how to proceed if you’ve suffered an accident like this.
To succeed in a claim, you must usually prove that someone else’s negligence caused your injury. Negligence claims involve the following four elements:
A duty of care refers to the obligation to act reasonably to prevent harm to others. When it comes to public parks, different parties may owe you a duty of care:
To prove negligence, you must show that some individual or entity failed to meet their duty of care. This could involve:
For example, if a tree limb falls and injures you because the City failed to address obvious signs of decay, that neglect might constitute a breach of duty.
Next, you must demonstrate that the breach of duty directly caused your injury. This includes:
Consider again the example we used above. To establish causation, you would need to show that the City’s failure to properly maintain the tree with the fallen branch was the reason it fell (rather than, say, an extreme weather event). You would also need to show that the falling branch was the cause of your injuries and that they were not the result of some pre-existing condition.
Finally, you must show that you suffered damages because of the negligence. These could include medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Public parks are not generally considered high-risk areas for accidents. However, there are a number of different ways in which you might suffer an injury in one.
Slippery walkways, uneven paths, and hidden obstacles can all lead to serious slip and fall accidents. These cases typically involve premises liability, where the park owner (usually the City) may be responsible for failing to maintain safe conditions.
Slip and fall injuries pose a particularly potent threat to elderly members of our community. According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), unintentional falls are the leading cause of injury and death in those over the age of 65.
If you’ve had an accident like this in a public park, you should take pictures and videos of the hazard that caused it. Additionally, you should try to collect contact details from anyone around who may have seen your accident, as they may be able to provide testimony later about what they witnessed. This type of evidence is frequently crucial in slip and fall cases.
Sadly, physical and sexual assaults happen relatively often in Philadelphia’s public parks, particularly after dark. If you suffer an attack like this, you should be entitled to file a personal injury suit against the perpetrator.
Because assault is an intentional tort, it may give rise to punitive damages. These provide compensation over and above the economic and noneconomic harm you suffer; they’re designed to punish defendants, rather than make plaintiffs whole. They’re available only in cases involving extremely reckless or intentional conduct. Most incidents causing personal injuries do not satisfy this standard, but assault does.
Many of Philadelphia’s public parks have multi-use paths for pedestrians and cyclists. Our personal injury attorneys have dealt with a number of cases arising from cyclists’ failure to use cycle lanes, yield properly, or ride carefully around pedestrians.
Cyclists typically do not have insurance in the same way that car users or motorcyclists do. This can make it more difficult to collect compensation from a cyclist in the event that one causes you an injury. However, you’re still legally entitled to damages if you get injured in a situation like this; you should schedule a free initial consultation with a lawyer to see whether filing a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault cyclist is the right move.
Workers in public parks, such as landscapers, maintenance staff, and event organizers, face various risks. However, if you’re injured while working, your path to compensation will be different than if you got hurt in some other way.
Workers’ compensation is a state-mandated insurance program that provides wage replacement and medical benefits to employees who get injured or fall ill in the line of work. It’s a no-fault system, meaning you don’t need to prove negligence on your employer’s part to get paid. Even if your accident was a result of a mistake you made, you’ll still be entitled to benefits.
While this feature of workers’ comp makes things easier, it does come with disadvantages. First, workers’ compensation does not pay noneconomic damages. Also, if you accept workers’ comp benefits, you will waive the right to sue your employer in relation to your accident in most situations (although, if a third party caused your injuries, you may be entitled to pursue a lawsuit against them in addition to your workers’ comp claim).
When injuries occur in a public park, the doctrine of sovereign immunity often complicates matters. Sovereign immunity protects government entities, like cities or municipalities, from lawsuits. However, this immunity is not absolute.
The Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act allows you to sue government entities in specific situations, including:
However, even if one of these exceptions applies, you’ll face more restrictions when suing the government than if you were suing a private body. Pennsylvania law typically requires you to notify the government entity within six months of the incident if you intend to sue; the statute of limitations in personal injury cases is ordinarily two years. Additionally, the overall amount of damages you can claim for is capped at $500,000, and only certain types of noneconomic damages are recoverable.
Because of these issues, and because the City of Philadelphia is a well-funded organization with the resources to fight legal battles, it’s important to hire an experienced lawyer if you plan to pursue a case like this.
When you’ve suffered an injury in a public park, understanding your rights is the first step toward obtaining the compensation you deserve.
Contact the Cochran Firm in Philadelphia today to schedule a free initial case consultation. You can reach us on our website or over the phone at 800-969-4400.
