Were You Hurt While Shopping in a Bodega?
Bodegas are a unique part of New York City’s identity. With their immigrant roots and cultural significance, bodegas are just as much community hubs as they are places to shop.
These family-owned stores are embedded in NYC communities and provide a sense of connection as much as convenience. However, not even bodegas are immune to slip-and-fall risks, third-party negligence, and personal injury lawsuits.
What happens when you are injured in a store, like a bodega?
The Law Office of Jeffrey K. Kestenbaum explains what to do after an accident and how to protect your legal rights.
Causes of Bodega Accidents
Although often quaint and charming, the layout and organization of many bodegas lends itself to various customer accidents. Due to limited space, these mom-and-pop shops may have cluttered aisles, inadequate storage space, and overflowing shelves.
If bodega employees don’t stack and store away crates and boxes properly, they can create tripping hazards for shoppers. Wet and slippery conditions caused by weather or cleaning can also cause falls inside or outside a bodega.
After being injured in a store, shoppers often suffer from broken bones, sprains, bruises, and concussions.
Meanwhile, others are injured in bodegas due to assault or other violent crimes, perhaps due in part to poor security and lighting. Even just a quick trip to the corner store can lead to devastating outcomes you never saw coming.
What to Do After a Bodega Accident
If you are injured in a store or bodega, immediately assess your injuries and get medical help. If you are able, document the accident scene with photos and videos. Jot down notes about what you remember happening, and take down the contact information of any witnesses.
Notify the bodega manager about your accident and inquire about any security cameras that may have captured the incident on film. A skilled personal injury attorney can assist you with pursuing your case against an at-fault bodega owner, manager, employee, or other negligent third parties.
Proving the Bodega Is to Blame
Proving a personal injury case against a bodega is a challenging matter best left to legal experts. The best things you can do as an injured person is to take care of your health and gather as much evidence as possible.
Like all stores, bodegas have a duty to provide a safe environment for customers and remedy hazardous situations to prevent injuries. You may be entitled to compensation if a bodega is at fault for your injuries.
You need an experienced, dedicated attorney on your side to hold the business owner, their insurance company, and their lawyers accountable. We can help you get compensated for injury-related bills, pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life.
Contact Us for a Bodega Accident Consultation
If you were injured in a store, such as a bodega, please contact our law firm online or at 718-237-5586.
We are the Brooklyn slip-and-fall lawyer you can trust and rely on when you have the unfortunate experience of a bodega accident. We know how to decipher local premise liability laws, apply them to your case, and use them to win for your benefit.
Our firm handles many types of accident cases and has a compassionate team ready to listen to your story and treat you with the dignity and respect you deserve.
However, please don’t delay reaching out after your bodega accident. According to the statute of limitations in New York, you only have a limited amount of time to file your claim.