The holiday season moves quickly here in New York City. While it’s a time of great joy, the unusual hustle, bustle, and holiday-themed activities can lead to many accidents.
Our law firm helps people who have suffered as a result of other people’s negligence. While personal injury suits do not exist to cover every accident that might ever happen, we can cover a fair number of the injuries that do occur during the Christmas holiday.
We also want people to be safe throughout the holiday, so we thought it would be a great time to cover some of the most common Christmas injuries, as well as the personal injury cases that they can create.
Toy-Based Injuries
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The Consumer Product Safety Commission and US Customs and Border Protection seized more than 1.1 million dangerous or illegal toys in 2023. Toys can provide a wealth of dangers, including:
- Choking hazards
- Lead and other harmful chemical hazards
- Toys that have sharp parts or edges
- Burns from batteries
- Blunt trauma
Every year, World Against Toys Causing Harm (W.A.T.C.H.) puts out a list of toys that are hazardous. The current list includes Disney toys, disc launchers, and more. You can find the list here.
Take precautions when buying toys. Choose age-appropriate toys, follow all toy-related directions, and be wary of deals that seem too good to be true. Often, deeply discounted toys are counterfeits produced overseas in places that don’t have stringent safety standards.
If a dangerous toy has injured your child, save the packaging, take photos, get the names and numbers of witnesses, and get medical attention right away. Your child may be eligible for compensation through a product liability lawsuit.
Burn Injuries
Tis the season to cook lots of food. Cooking fires account for nearly half of the home fires that occur in America every year, and while Thanksgiving accounts for more fires than Christmas does, it’s still important to be careful.
Never leave food unattended while it is cooking.
In addition to cooking injuries, holiday lights and decorations can be a source of fires.
If you are burned this holiday season, you might be able to bring a premises liability suit against a property owner who caused a fire or who failed to exercise reasonable care. Of course, if you set the fire yourself, you’ll have to pay for your expenses out of pocket and may find yourself the defendant in an injury lawsuit. Take care.
Lacerations and Cuts
Trimming the Christmas tree, stepping on broken Christmas ornaments, cuts from knives or scissors while wrapping or opening Christmas presents. Christmas offers plenty of opportunities for people to receive nasty cuts and lacerations.
Often, it is not possible to launch a personal injury case for these types of injuries, so be extremely vigilant whenever you’re operating around sharp objects.
Slip and Fall Accidents
It’s ice and snow season here in New York City, and that means plenty of opportunities for slips, trips, and falls.
If you slip or fall because a store or location didn’t clean up a spill or left a hazard in the aisle, you may have a premesis liability suit. If you slipped on icy sidewalks you may have a suit either against the city or against the property owner, but you’ll need to act fast. You have to file a Notice of Claim within 30 days to sue the city.
You almost always need a personal injury lawyer to launch a slip-and-fall suit, so call one as soon as you feel medically capable of doing so.
Auto Accidents
More shopping, parties, and visits with relatives mean more cars on the road, even in New York City. The National Safety Council estimates that more than 600 people die on the road in the United States between Christmas and New Years.
We’re sad to say there are a lot more intoxicated drivers on the road during this time of year. In addition, the weather is often bad and tempers are often short.
Make sure your car is roadworthy for winter driving, and slow down if you have to. Get a ride if you’ve been drinking. If you get into an accident that meets the serious injury threshold, don’t forget to call a personal injury lawfirm like ours right away.
Happy Holidays
Despite this grim list, most people have safe, lovely holidays, and we hope you do too.
Nevertheless, if you get hurt this Christmas because another party was negligent, feel free to call us.
See also:
What Are Your Options if You Were Injured On Black Friday?
Winter Safety for New York City Drivers
Understanding Damages in New York Personal Injury Cases
