My father, 69, fell today at a car dealership, took him to E.R. There was a lot of blood; do we have a case?

Question

I was with him at the dealership when it happened, but inside. I was waiting for a salesman. Minutes before, we had gone outside to look at some cars in the lot, and I went ahead and went back inside, to wait for the salesman, as I said. I sat in a few cars, it must have been 5 minutes. Then everyone runs out of the showroom. Instinctively, I knew something happened. I ran out, he was being peeled off the concrete. He tripped and fell on a step, a platform, which was about four inches high, which went to an unmarked, glass side door. There was NO SIGN or indication that there was an increase in elevation of the ground. The platform/step was the same color concrete as the rest of the small walkway. He tripped, fell flat on his face. There was a LOT of blood. Blood all over the walkway, through the showroom, and in the bathroom, where I cleaned him up for nearly 20 minutes, until the ambulance came. I took him to the E.R. myself, filed a police report. We want to pursue legal action.

I should add that my father has a pacemaker. The way he says it happened was he was walking, did not notice the step/platform thing and tripped. He may have been unconcious for a couple of minutes.

I took pictures of him at the E.R. Right now his face is incredibly swollen, he had two STITCHES on his nose, he is scraped, has bruises on his head, and his hands are cut. He looks terrible, he probably cannot go to work for some time.

I am asking for some preliminary legal advice from people who have been there.

I love my father, and he is in a fragile state. He could have died. My family have never sued, anyone, ever. But feel that this is only right. Think about the E.R. medical bills that must be paid. Think before you respond so harshly.

Answer 1

You certainly should be able to sue.

Answer 2

There is always a lot of blood when a person gets a head wound. I'm sure it was as scary to them as it was to you and your father.

Here's another incident...My father was at a salvage yard getting a headlight off an old car. The hood on the car came down unexpectedly and nearly cut half his hand off! He was bleeding badly and nearly in shock but managed to drive himself to my brothers house before collapsing. He was taken to the hospital and stitched up, tetanus shot etc...Did we sue the salvage yard because the vehicles hood didn't stay up and nearly cut half his hand off??? NO! It wasn't anyone's fault...it was a freak accident!
The car dealership has only one responsibility at this point...Because the incident happened on their property they are responsible for your father's medical bills. If the bills go over a certain amount or your father has futher health issues because of his fall then they will probably try to settle through there insurance carrier or lawyers if need be. Sueing only raises the cost of insurance and other things that are associated with it. If I were you I think you could do a lot more by insisting that they have the area painted in either yellow or red paint so that it is more visible to people so that it would prevent the same thing from happening again. You never know when you might be the person on the receiving end so I would be careful!!

Answer 3

I am am attorney. for the dealership to be liable the step would have had to be inferior in some way, like crumbling or icy or cracked. It would also have to be something latent....not immediately visible as dangerous. like a rough looking step that just looks a little old and ragged, but crumbles when you step on it. this step was in plain view of everyone and was presumably normal height, leading into a building, where it is customary to have step ups. cement step ups do not need to be painted yellow or marked in anyway like a gradual grade would usually be.

i don't know why you filed a police report, even had there been negligence on the car dealer's behalf, it would be a civil matter, not a criminal one.

this would be a tort...for which there are 4 elements that must be satisfied, duty, breach, causation and damage.

the dealership has a duty to make its premises safe for customers.

if the step had been unsafe, there would be a breach

the step was the causation

and the injuries were the damage.\

as you see, since there was no inferiority in the step/sidewalk, there was no breach of the duty the car dealership owed to its customers.

that said....they have insurance and will likely offer or at least agree to pay any out of pocket medical expenses. meaning, your dad's insurance pays what they pay. any deductibles, copays or other costs that are not covered are your dad's actual expenses, and the dealership will likely pay those without a fuss. don't sign or allow your dad to sign any waivers of liability, even though he's probably feeling a little foolish and might want to. but don't play too much hardball with the dealership, because from what you say happened, they are NOT liable in anyway and if you push too hard you'll get nothing. as it is, you'll only be able to get actual costs, and that only if you play your cards right.

Answer 4

Sorry to hear about your father. I hope he recovers soon. It sounds like you have had a very upsetting experience. It's hard to know about whether this is a good case without seeing the place where he fell. But I do know that it's hard to collect for injuries on behalf of an older person...if this was a 5-year-old girl who fell on the pavement the jury would be very sympathetic but wiith older people there is an expectation that they won't live forever, and tend to have a poor quality of life anyway. I know this sounds harsh but that is my experience. You should ask yourself, Are his injuries permanent? Does he have a lot of medical expenses from this accident that aren't covered byy insurance? Also, how does he feel about suing--he might not want to go thorugh telling the same story a zillion times, which is what you have to do when you file a suit.

Answer 5

First of all, I hope your father is alright. It is a terrible thing when something like that happens. But on the other hand, It is not right to sue for everything, that a person can try to get rich over. If somebody caused him to fall, like pushing him, or hitting him, sue them. don't try to sue somebody, because people can't watch where they are walking. If I fall down steps, I consider it my fault, not the owner of the steps, or in this case a step. If everybody was more aware of what they are doing, and watch where they were walking or running, Our insurance premiums would drop, Lawyers would have to do a honest days work, people wouldn't waste everybody Else's time. .......Ps....Take care of your father, buy a car off that car lot, (I'm sure they feel as bad as you do about your father, and thank them for caring to assist you and your father).

Answer 6

You should always post your location in legal questions, as laws are different everywhere...

Anyway, it doesn't matter if you have a case or not...this is a perfect example of a nuisance case. Sue and they will settle because it is cheaper than fighting such a frivolous case. You should be ashamed of yourself for even considering legal action...it is people like you who give lawyers a bad name.

Besides what are your damages? 2 stitches and a little wounded pride because your dad fell down?

Answer 7

You definitely have a case.

However, if there's no long-term damage to your dad (which I hope there isn't!) he probably won't be able to recover that much. Even if the car dealership was very negiligent, courts are unlikely to give you a windfall by awarding a lot of money.

My advice: persent them with the medical bills and try and get them to pay those, plus a few thousand for pain and suffering. They probably will just pay if they can get you to settle quickly.

Answer 8

your dad has insurance right?
that will pay the bills
or do you do this for a living and let dear ol dad take tumbles from time to time at dealships, casinos, ect...
face it your dad is not very steady on 2 legs
considering thousands of people pass through the same set of steps unharmed every year shows you have no proof of negligence on the dealerships part, play hardball with them and you soon discover how good their lawyers can get and then watch them countersue, and then you be tied up in courts for 2 years minimum with you footing the lawyers bill until it finally reaches the courts.

similiar thing happened to my father @ home depot
a gust of wind and 1 sheet of plywood and he was knocked out cold
he look like mike tyson hit him
the kind folks at home depot called the ambulance
insurance covered all the bills
it was no ones fault ( unless you want to blame mother nature for the gust of wind ),
lawsuit never entered anyones mind
but then all I cared for was the health of my father
not seeing how much a bigbox company might shell out..
you are one krass individual

Answer 9

Contact the dealership and ask if they have liability insurance that covers injuries that occur on their property. Most business' do. You may be able to file a claim to have his medical expenses paid. You may be able to contact a personal injury attorney, but by the time the dealerships attorneys and your attorney scam everybody, you will still end up with nothing.
Something else that you might check out.... see if they are in compliance with the American's With Disabilities Act in regards to the accessibilty of their business. You may be able to find out what the code requirements are through your cities local building
division.

Answer 10

*sigh*

I can't begin to tell you how unbelievably sick I am of all the sue-happy, money-hungry jackals that are out there.

Accidents happen. Did the car dealership set out to purposely hurt your father? No. Is what happened sad? Of course. But can every business you go to make every square inch of their property safe for the very young and the elderly? Not possible. The world is a dangerous place, but we need to spend our time living in it, not suing because we get splinters or trip over uneven sidewalks.

It's people like you, constantly thinking about cold, hard cash and nothing else, that have made this country such a shallow, uncaring place.

Answer 11

No. The deal is final. That said, they would be willing to let you trade it in on another car but you would lose at least $2000 in the process. (In addition to the price difference) The deal is final when your signature hits the paper. And, whose to say that after 7 hours you wouldn't want out of THAT car too ?