Thanksgiving conjures visions of roast turkey and stuffing, cranberry sauce, and watching football as you recover from your food coma. Most people don’t associate Thanksgiving with injuries, but they happen more often than you think.
In reality, Thanksgiving and other holidays show an increase in accidents occurring for various reasons. If you were involved in any of these accidents over the holiday – or suffered other injuries due to another’s negligence, get in touch with a knowledgeable injury lawyer.
Car Accidents
More people traveling on the roads means more accidents occur, too. Car accidents are one of the most common Thanksgiving accidents. Why? Lots of reasons.
People are in a rush to get to their destination. Many are traveling in unfamiliar areas. Some may be on the road after having too many drinks with a big meal. And, of course, the roads are more crowded with holiday traffic.
Burns
All those delicious holiday dishes don’t simply cook themselves. But an increase in the time spent in the kitchen crafting all those delicious dishes means an increased risk for accidents – like burns.
Sometimes burns can occur due to carelessness, such as leaving hot objects within reach of children. In other situations, they might be due to defective products.
Slip and Fall Accidents
Public places are very busy over the holidays, which paves the way for accidents such as slips and falls. There may be slippery spots in public places that the busy store staff hasn’t had time to notice or clean up. Other culprits include uneven walkways, driveways, parking lots, and damaged stairs.
Food Poisoning
While everyone loves holiday food, sometimes it can come back to haunt you – especially if it poisons you. Food poisoning happens a lot, even over the holidays. Cross-contamination in the kitchen or improperly prepared meat and other foods pose a serious risk of food poisoning. While most people will return from a bout of food poisoning fairly quickly, the elderly, small children, and pregnant women may not.
This is particularly true if you prepared your Thanksgiving meal from a store or restaurant, where they have a higher duty of care to keep you safe.
Is Your Florida Thanksgiving Injury Really Worth Suing Over?
Maybe. Maybe not. That is why it is often useful to talk to an experienced attorney if you’re not sure. Often, people tend to minimize these types of injuries because they don’t seem that bad at first. It is only later when they are still suffering physical problems or watching their medical bills come in, they realize how serious the issue is.
Depending on their severity, personal injuries can cost people tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in doctors’ bills, lost wages, and other damages you may not have even considered. Many of these – if not all of them – are potentially recoverable. But you have to fight back, and you have to be able to prove negligence.
This is where a skilled Florida injury lawyer comes in. They will know how to look at the facts of your situation and tell you whether or not you have a solid case worth pursuing. Then they will use their knowledge to put together the strongest possible case to help you receive the compensation you need and deserve to return to your regular life.
About the Author:
Andrew Winston is a partner at the personal injury law firm Winston Law. For over 20 years, he has successfully represented countless people in all personal injury cases, focusing on child injury, legal malpractice, and premises liability. He has been recognized for excellence in representing injured clients by admission to the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and named one of America’s Top 100 High-Stakes Litigators. Mr. Winston is AV Preeminent Rated by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, enjoys a 10.0 rating by AVVO as a Top Personal Injury Attorney, and has been selected as a Florida “SuperLawyer” from 2011-2022– an honor reserved for the top 5% of lawyers in the state – was voted to Florida Trend’s ”Legal Elite,” recognized by Expertise as one of the 20 Best Fort Lauderdale personal injury attorneys, named one of the Top 100 Lawyers in the Miami area for 2015-2022, and one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Florida for 2015-2017 and 2019-2022.
