Study in Salford reveals a quarter of pavements are tripping hazards

A report by the Chartered Institute of Physiotherapy revealed that over a quarter of pavement services in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester have serious defects that could pose a hazard to pedestrians. Nationwide pavement inspections have revealed over a fifth of pavements and kerbs are in need of repairs.

The findings of the study have drawn attention to the risks to pedestrians from slips, trips and falls in public places. Elderly and physically frail people are often seriously injured by a fall caused by catching their foot in a pavement defect. In the words of a Chartered Institute of Physiotherapy spokesperson; “these injuries can seriously affect their health and well being”.

Local Councils have a duty to maintain pavements and roads to a reasonable standard of repair in order to prevent accidents. At Camps Solicitors we are aware that there are many defences a local council can use when disputing a claim brought by someone who has tripped in public. In particular, as long as a council can show it had an appropriate system of regular inspections to discover and repair defects, then it can be very difficult to bring a compensation claim for negligence.

If you have been injured in a tripping accident either in Salford or anywhere within England and Wales and you are considering making a claim, Camps Solicitors’ advice to you would be obtain photographic evidence of the defect as soon as you can. We wouldn’t expect people to put their health and safety at risk by attempting to take photos if they need immediate medical attention, in that case we can arrange for our client liaison officers to visit the accident scene to produce a plan of the area and to take photographs.

Often a council will attempt to repair a defect that has caused an injury before any evidence can be recorded; this will make the job of a court assessing your claim very difficult as the judge may not be able to see what you have tripped on, and the claim will be based more on your own testimony.

At Camps Solicitors we are experts in dealing with tripping claims for people injured from falls in public, as shown by our impressive success rates with these types of claims. For more information on making a claim for compensation, call our Freephone number on 0800 092 8586.