A restaurant is one of those places where you can feel safe while having a good time after a stressful day or week at work. But restaurants are not nearly as safe as we imagine them to be. From slip and fall accidents and broken chairs to assaults, burn injuries, and food poisoning. Spending an evening in a restaurant is not as safe as you think, and restaurant accidents are not uncommon in Pittsburgh.
Common Hazards in Restaurants
Slip and fall hazards and inadequate lighting are not the only dangerous conditions that can be found in restaurants. Other causes of restaurant accidents include but are not limited to:
- Food poisoning caused by the restaurant’s failure to get rid of spoiled or expired food and cook food properly to destroy harmful bacteria, especially in meat, poultry, fish, and seafood;
- Food borne illnesses or infections caused by the restaurant staff’s failure to properly wash hands and engage in other good hygiene practices;
- Failure to provide a safe passageway to entry and exit;
- Defective, damaged, or broken chairs, tables, bar stools, and other pieces of furniture in the restaurant;
- Damaged, faulty, or otherwise unsafe stairways, elevators or escalators;
- Dangerous conditions in the parking lot;
- Inadequate security measures;
- Slip and fall or trip and fall hazards;
- The restaurant’s staff bumping into you; and
- Burn injuries caused by the waiter spilling hot food or drinks on you or failing to warn you that the food or drink is unreasonably hot before you consume or touch it.
How a Restaurant Can Be Held Liable for Your Injuries
It’s Friday night, so you reserved the best table at your favorite restaurant to impress your date. The date goes amazing. The food is super delicious. The waiter is nice and friendly. The music is fantastic. But then you decide to go to the restroom. You excuse yourself, stand up, and walk toward the restroom. As you walk down the hallway, it’s getting darker because the overhead light has gone out.
And then, all of a sudden, you end up on the floor. You slipped on a wet floor near the WC, because you could not see that the floor was wet and slippery due to inadequate lighting. You damaged your back as a result of the slip and fall accident.
Our experienced restaurant accident attorney Pittsburgh explains that the restaurant will most likely be held liable for your injury because it was negligent in two instances. First of all, the restaurant did not take reasonable steps to fix the lighting near the restroom, especially given that it was Friday night and the restaurant could reasonably expect an influx of visitors. Second of all, the restaurant failed to clean up the dangerous condition (wet floor) near the restroom in a timely manner to prevent restaurant accidents.
Pittsburgh Restaurant Accident Attorneys
SMT Legal attorneys believe in aggressively representing our clients while maintaining the personal compassion needed when counseling clients through difficult situations and navigating a complex legal system. If you were injured at a restaurant, contact us today.