DC Elevator Injury Lawyer
A DC elevator injury lawyer can help you navigate the legal process if you are injured due to negligence on an elevator. For many people in Washington, D.C., elevators are a part of daily life. Nearly all of us get onto them, not expecting things to go wrong. And as much as people use elevators, someone is rarely injured. You can go an entire lifetime without an injury. But if you are injured, your perspective can quickly shift. Suddenly, you are stuck in a metal box with no escape. You can pry the doors open if you are strong enough. But what if you are injured? You may not have the strength to pry the doors open.
Here, we will explore who can be held liable for your injuries, what your injuries may be worth, the common causes of DC elevator accidents, and the severity of your injuries. Elevators are engineered for safety. They are designed so that even if they do malfunction, injuries will not occur. A lot has to go wrong to be seriously injured in a DC elevator accident. And yet, our DC personal injury lawyers have been successful on many elevator injury claims. If you are older, or your balance is compromised in any way, it is understandable that you may fall and injure yourself. Moreover, if you are a young person who is injured on a DC elevator, you may be left with permanent mental or physical scars. You may be afraid to use elevators for the remainder of your life.
As your dedicated DC elevator injury lawyer, we are here to fight to get you the compensation you deserve. Call today for a free consultation.
Common Causes of Elevator Accidents in DC Buildings
If you are injured on an elevator in DC, you may now be permanently traumatized and thus afraid of using elevators. However, elevators are nearly unavoidable. While you can probably go a lifetime without taking an elevator, it will severely limit your quality of life. You will be essentially prohibited from going to the top of tall buildings. You may be left out if your friends go to a rooftop pool. If your spouse wants to have a romantic dinner on a rooftop, you may be unable to do so. You are entitled to damages for this mental trauma. Beyond that, you may want to understand the common causes of elevator accidents to overcome your new trauma.
Improper Maintenance
Elevators require regular maintenance to function correctly. If the elevator does malfunction, it will need to be investigated. If it is discovered in the records that the commercial building or owner of the elevator failed to maintain the elevator properly and that said failure is the cause of the malfunction and your injury, you have a viable claim. Proving the causal link between improper maintenance and malfunction requires an expert witness in court. Expert witnesses are expensive, so the injuries have to warrant the cost. However, if we can settle the case before trial, you can save that cost.
Improper Installations
Even with proper maintenance, elevators can still fail and cause injury. A DC elevator injury lawyer from Gelb & Gelb will investigate the reason for the malfunction. If we determine proper maintenance, we will ask our investigator whether there was improper installation. Sometimes, even if the elevator is a year or two old, an improper installation can lead to problems. Again, an expert witness must prove the causal link between an improper installation and your injury.
Aging Infrastructure
This is almost the opposite problem of an improper installation, yet the result is the same. When an elevator malfunctions, we must determine why the failure occurred. If the elevator is 40 years old, we can likely rule out an improper installation. However, aging infrastructure may be the cause. Many buildings in DC are older. While most building owners know to maintain and replace aging infrastructure, if the building is older and generating little revenue, they may look to save the cost and not upkeep the elevator, leading to malfunction and injury. Age-related wear and tear leads to a greater likelihood of elevator malfunction.
Overloading
Overloading is a common cause of elevator accidents in DC buildings. Older elevators might have a lower threshold for weight than newer ones. Moreover, suppose movers are attempting to load a lot of furniture onto an elevator that is not a service elevator but a standard elevator in the building. In that case, the weight limit may be exceeded. However, this is likely not a case a DC elevator injury lawyer will take. To have a case, the defendant must make negligence. We can only establish liability via negligence in an overloading case if the elevator has insufficient warnings. If they fail to post sufficient warnings of weight limits, that is a breach of the duty owed, and you may wish to pursue that case.
Vandalism and Misuse
Vandalism and misuse are common causes of elevator accidents and may necessitate hiring a DC elevator injury lawyer. If someone vandalizes an elevator, that does not mean the building owner is automatically liable. They have a duty to maintain and inspect for issues on the elevator on a reasonable basis. Thus, if someone vandalizes the elevator, and you get on it, ride it, and are injured, the building may not be liable. If the building was aware of the elevator’s vandalism and did nothing to prevent you from using it, you may have a case. To avoid liability, they should shut down the use of that elevator immediately until it is inspected to ensure its safety.
Power Failure
A power failure in an elevator may result in injury if it causes a sudden stop or even a sharp fall of the elevator. Sometimes, this results in serious injury for those riding the elevator. However, whether anyone is at fault for the power failure depends on the facts of the case. For example, there may not be negligence if there is a power outage to the entire building because of a storm, and the elevator is up to code and properly maintained. On the other hand, negligence may be at play if there is a power failure just to the elevator.
Failure of Safety Device
Speed governors are essential safety devices designed to regulate the speed at which an elevator travels. If the speed governor malfunctions, the elevator may drive excessively. This speed may cause the elevator to fall off its tracks and result in injury caused by negligence. If functioning correctly, the speed governor should detect excessive speed and deploy safety brakes.
Door interlocks are another necessary safety function. Their primary purpose is to prevent doors from opening unless it is safe. They establish a mechanical or electrical link between the elevator car and the landing doors. If the doors open at any time that is unsafe, it is clear there was a safety device failure, and we will investigate further.
Contact an Attorney
A DC elevator injury lawyer can help you establish liability by a defendant. Whether the defendant is a commercial office building in Downtown DC or an event venue like Capital One Arena, we can help you hold the wrongdoer responsible for your injuries.
Call our office today for a free consultation at (202) 331-7227.