Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
Who would think that premises liability would extend to a golf course? It does and course owners and employees need to be aware.
Let’s consider a case that we heard about just recently about a man who wound up with traumatic brain injury after falling off a golf cart. The man’s wife is seeking damages for the trauma and loss of consortium in the form of a personal injury lawsuit.
The story goes like this: the gentleman was golfing when one of the club’s employees offered to give him a ride in one of the club’s golf carts. Evidently rather than being able to sit on the front seat with the employee, he was told to stand in the area normally reserved for carrying the golf clubs. The foundation of this personal injury lawsuit is the negligence of the employee who was driving the golf cart at the time of the accident.
Other pertinent facts in the case were revealed in the court documents and dealt with the allegations that the employee drove the cart with excessive speed for the conditions of the terrain and made an exceedingly sharp turn with no warning, causing the woman’s husband to be thrown from the cart.
The man was taken to hospital for treatment and the doctor treating him informed the court that the man is in a coma. His chances of recovering are extremely poor.
Other points that go toward a judge and jury making a decision have to do with charges that the defendant didn’t adequately train their employees on proper golf cart operation, failed to warn the man of the dangers of standing in the back of the golf cart, and that the employee overloaded the cart, thus causing it to be unstable.
The underlying premises here is that property owners may be held liable for personal injuries sustained by an injured party if there was a dangerous/hazardous condition on the property that could/should have been fixed. In fact, that dangerous condition should not even have been there in the first place. However, the fact that it was, increases the level of responsibility the defendant has to those who use the defendant’s property, in this case the golf course and its carts. Because the employee represents the property owner, they have a duty of care toward people using the property.
Falls have the potential to cause extremely serious injuries that include traumatic brain injury (such as this case), broken hips, dislocations, and spinal cord injuries. These aren’t exactly easy injuries to treat, and many of them are long-term, painful and costly to treat. Many of these injuries also have the potential to be permanent.
If you’ve been hurt in an accident similar to this or at a different location, don’t hesitate to speak to a dedicated and highly skilled Atlanta personal injury lawyer. Part of proving that a plaintiff who was injured is eligible for compensation is showing that accidents are avoidable but for negligence on the part of the liable party.
Tim Anderson works with Atlanta Personal Injury attorney, Stephen M. Ozcomert. The firm specializes in personal injury, malpractice, motorcycle accidents, and wrongful death. To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert, visit Ozcomert.com.