Leesburg-Villages personal injury lawyer, Guy S. DiMartino, explains what people need to know about trip and fall injuries on stairs.
I have seen some terrible trip and fall injuries on stairwells over my years. There are a number of reasons that folks will fall on stairs. First, the stairs can be in disrepair. Lose treads, nails sticking up, or slippery paint can make stairs dangerous. Second, the stairs may not be uniform. Treads may be different lengths and risers may be different heights.
Why does this matter? Its all the neurology my friend. Our brain is like a computer working the background. We perform a lot of tasks, such as climbing or descending stairs, on autopilot without really thinking about the act. This is how it works. When you take your first step or two, the proprioceptors (nerves in your joints) send an impulse to the brain that tell the muscles how much they have to stretch or lengthen. So you go down a couple of stairs and the computer is set. The next thing that happens is the next couple steps have different heights or lengths and the person takes a step that is too short or too long depending on the problem. They lose their balance and fall down or up the stairs and is injured. The Florida Building Code and Life Safety Code allow for some differences in treads and risers but the leeway is slim.
If you have any questions about an injury that happened on a set of stairs, you can always give me a call on my cell phone at 352-267-9168 or fill out the internet consultation form on the right side of the screen.
photo attribution: homerenovations.about.com