Attorney Alexandria Zant Discusses how to Beat Trick-or-Treat Premises Liability
El Paso, TX (PRWEB) October 15, 2015 -- “Halloween is just around the corner and many people get into the spirit of this holiday with elaborate decorations to entice the multitude of trick-or-treaters,” said Zant, who represents injured parties in premises liability cases and is also the only attorney with a mobile office in her area. “However, with numerous people stepping foot on your property, the chance of injury greatly increases and homeowners need to take precautions to avoid this and potential lawsuits or costly homeowner’s insurance claims.”
According to NOLO, premises liability comes into play in personal injury cases where the injury was caused by some type of unsafe or defective condition on someone’s property. Having a porch light on and Halloween decorations out could be found to be an implied invitation to would-be trick-or-treaters to enter the property; therefore, the trick-or-treater would not be a trespasser even if the homeowner tries to argue they did not intend to pass out candy or invite anyone to their door. For this reason, Zant suggests keeping your driveways and walkways reasonably well-lit to lessen the chance of injury.
“You can still achieve spookiness with bright lighting, and should ask yourself what is more important, a well-lit house or a dark, spooky house that could result in someone being injured?” said Zant. “Also, it is imperative to keep traffic flow in mind when placing your decorations so as to avoid revelers from tripping over your well-intentioned decorations. If you have any large potholes, drainage ditches or stairs that cannot be well-lit, consider placing barricades or ‘Do Not Cross’ reflective tape around dangerous areas.”
Additionally, if your house is under construction that is near the walkways or in any way impedes your walkways, you should consider not passing out candy this Halloween as the younger trick-or-treaters could be apt to play with or pick up anything left behind from the project, such as tools, nails, stakes, etc. Zant also stresses that having a costumed individual jump out from some dark corner, despite keeping with the spirit of Halloween, is not advisable.
“Although most people just jump in their skin a little or let out a little scream, some individuals have been known to abandon all reason and run off and into walls or into the street in front of moving cars,” said Zant. “If you are not an advertised ‘haunted house,’ complete with signs marking an entrance, tickets, and preferably insurance for that purpose, you should not set one up in your front yard to an unsuspecting public if you do not want to be responsible for their injuries. Even though I represent those who have been injured on others’ property, I would rather see injuries prevented for the sake of all.”
About Alexandria Zant, Zant Law Firm P.C.
Attorney Alexandria Zant operates the county’s only mobile law office, making house calls to her clients. Her areas of practice are auto accidents, injury at a store or business, daycare injuries and workplace injuries. Her physical office is located at 1444 Montana Ave., Suite 101, El Paso, TX 79902. For more information, please call (915) 799-0993, or visit her Google+ page.
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