Even in the south, injuries in the winter occur. In fact, snow and ice are the most common causes of these incidents.

Common Personal Injury in Snow and Ice

Winter can easily bring storms and events that lead to personal injury in snow and ice. Most commonly, in wintry weather, we see injuries relating to treacherous driving conditions and slippery walkways. Although white snow is a beautiful site to behold, it can bring hidden dangers and threats to those on the roads and business premises across the upstate of South Carolina.

Liability of a commercial premises owner or occupier

For those commercial establishments that decide to open in treacherous snowy conditions, they can face enormous liability for personal injury that occurs on their premises. A premises owner or occupier is responsible for keeping its premises free from dangerous conditions that it knows or should know about. Obviously, a commercial establishment will know that snow is on the ground outside its doors, so it has a duty to make its premises safe for its customers. That duty includes removing snow and ice, putting down salt to melt the snow and ice, and to generally make the premises safe for its customers. While customers have a duty to be careful as well as they enter the premises; remember, the customer has no control over the premises itself and cannot clear away the snow or ice. That’s for the commercial business to do. Also, many times a customer may not appreciate that there is hidden black ice in a parking lot or sidewalk of a commercial establishment, and may not be able to avoid slipping and falling. So its on the property owner or retail establishment to inspect its premises after a snow storm and then make sure that the ice has been removed.

Motor Vehicle Accident Liability in snowy and icy conditions

Driving in snow and ice should be done only when absolutely necessary. Personal injury in snow and ice can occur

Unfortunately, if you are a driver in those conditions and hit a snowy or icy patch, loses control and hits another vehicle causing a motor vehicle accident, you may face liability for the harms and losses caused. Again, if a driver decides to take to the roads in snowy and icy conditions, then that driver will be responsible if he loses control and causes a harmful accident. As a driver, you have a duty to operate your car in a reasonable and safe manner. This includes driving in unsafe road conditions. And sometimes conditions may be so dangerous, that it’s impossible to operate a vehicle safely. As a result, it’s unreasonable for a driver to operate in those conditions. So if a driver chooses to drive in extremely dangerous conditions, he’s responsible for the consequences of his choices.

Being out in snowy icy conditions-either driving or going to the store-can be extremely dangerous. However, businesses and drivers of cars must take care to operate safely-by either making its premises safe and free from snow and ice or driving so carefully as to not lose control and cause a wreck. In any event, it’s best to avoid going out in snow icy conditions altogether and in so doing, you will avoid suffering a personal injury in snow and ice.