Manholes and utility covers litter our pavements – so walking over them is often unavoidable. Many people tend to avoid walking over them for reasons of superstition, however I tend to avoid walking over them after hearing of the various personal injury claims that come into our office here at The Injury Lawyers.
In order to have a successful claim for personal injury, there are two main factors which need to proven – one is a breach of duty, the other is causation.
Breach of Duty
To prove this, the organisation responsible for the manhole or utility cover firstly needs to be established. This can sometimes be tricky, especially when you consider that it may be a local council, water company, or electricity company responsible for the area – and it sometimes is not obvious by simply looking at the cover to find out where the responsibility lies. Once this is established you then need to look at the duties of the Defendant. Any of the aforementioned organisations have a duty to protect the general public from risks to their health and safety, as far as is reasonably possible. This means ensuring all covers are well maintained and secured properly, and if they are defective, they should be clearly cordoned off with warning signs in place until such a time that repairs can be made. If the Defendant has failed in this duty then they may be in breach, and you may have a claim.
Causation
Here, causation means that it is reasonable to assume that the accident caused your injuries as alleged. For example, it is reasonable to assume that by falling down an uncovered manhole you could break your leg; the issue comes when the injury is not consistent with the accident.
So you have a claim…what do you do next?
- You can report the matter to the Police and/or relevant authority responsible for the area if this is known.
- Seek medical assistance for your injuries.
- Take photographic evidence of the defect as soon as possible, as once you have reported it, or a claim is begun, the area is likely to be altered and repairs made to avoid the same thing happening to someone else.
- Check for any witnesses to your accident and obtain their contact details if possible, as their evidence may be valuable in supporting your claim.
- Seek the advice of a specialist personal injury lawyer directly.
If you think you have a potential claim from the situation which I have described above, please feel free to call our office to discuss your situation in complete confidence.
