The Weather Outside is Frightful!

Christmas is now over and winter soon will hit us in earnest. That means beautiful snow-covered

pine trees, crackling fireplaces, and children sledding down the neighborhood hill. All these things are wonderful, but don't forget what else ice and snow bring us -- black ice! Every year thousands of people, young and old, slip and fall on patches of ice and snow. Typically, we just slip down, hit the ground, and get up feeling a bit silly. But sometimes the situation is much, much worse.

Some years ago, I represented a client who slipped and fell on black ice in his employer's parking lot. It was still dark outside, there we few people around, and nobody saw him fall. When he tried to get up, my client discovered that he had suffered a severe spiral fracture of his femur, and could not walk. He could not even crawl! His cell phone slid was too far away for him to reach and no one could hear his calls for help. It was minus 15deg. outside, and he almost froze to death. Luckily, another employee finally saw him and called for help.

Remember, with slip and fall situations, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Whenever you experience icy and snowy situations, don't just ignore it. Please anticipate a hazardous condition and get some ice melt down immediately and provide adequate warning to everybody of the danger. It really does take all of us!