Philadelphia Injury Attorney Blog

It’s January and the experienced Philadelphia slip and fall lawyers at Reiff and Bily are busy evaluating numerous slip and fall cases that we are presented with each winter. Many times we are contacted by clients who slip on ice that they had not previously noticed and fell, sustaining injuries often of a serious nature. One of the first questions we ask our clients is what did the surface of the ice look like? Was it clear, slippery, and smooth? Or were there hills and ridges?

In Pennsylvania, mere slipperiness is not enough to prove negligence in an icy condition. The plaintiff does not establish a cause of action for negligence if “nothing but the slipperiness” causes the accident. Rather it must be “such an accumulation of ice as to constitute an obstruction to travel or ridges or irregularities of such height or lying at such inclination or angle that it would likely trip passersby and cause them to fall.”

The law recognizes that there is a physical impossibility to always keep sidewalks or premises clear of ice or snow, and therefore under the hills and ridges doctrine to be successful in a slip and fall accident claim, you must establish that a landlord or premises’ owner negligently permits an accumulation of ice or snow remain on the sidewalk for such a period of time that a slippery and dangerous condition exists either by virtue of ridges, hummocks, depressions, or other irregularities.

Where snow is newly fallen and relatively undisturbed and smooth ice or snow causes someone’s injury, the landowner is generally not held liable even if that person is a business visitor to whom the highest duty of care is owed. Liability for a slippery or icy condition is closely tied to the particularities and specific nature of each case and the icy situation. In addition, there is an elaborate set of rules distinguishing private owners and local and state agencies which can lead to very different results depending on who controls the lot, sidewalk or roadway in question.

So, if you or a loved one is injured in a slip and fall accident on an icy or snowy surface, it is best to contact an experienced Philadelphia slip and fall attorney with over 30 years of experience handling slip and fall cases to evaluate your case on a no obligation, no cost basis.