Greeley Ski and Snowboard Accident Lawyer

What causes a snowboarding injury?

You can imagine all of the various ways to get hurt while skiing or snowboarding: Someone might recklessly crash into you, or you might take a dangerous wrong turn because a sign was confusing or hard to see. The professional who was supposed to be helping you might have led you astray. You might crash into a rock or a tree on your own accord and realize that skiing is not for you.

The main thing that divides these injury types is fault. If the injury is your fault, you cannot recover the cost of your injury. However, if the ski resort or another participant causes your injury, you can hire a lawyer to recover the cost of your injury.

What does a personal injury attorney do?

To begin a legal action, you must make sure you are within the statute of limitations. Accidents related to skiing and snowboarding will probably require you to proceed under a theory of products liability or negligence, which are personal injury claims. Based on Colorado Revised Statutes section 13-80-102, there are two years to file personal injury claims that do not involve the use of a motor vehicle; the countdown for the two years starts the day you are injured.

An attorney near you there in Colorado can help you file your claim so that it meets all of the elements of the law under which you are suing. Products liability and negligence each have their own unique elements that must be met for your complaint to be accepted. Your lawyer can also help you find out who is the best person or company for you to sue based on the potential defendant’s fault and ability to pay.

Your Greeley attorney can help you investigate the issues of your case by contacting witnesses, conducting depositions, and being available for you in the litigation stage of discovery. These steps help a case move towards settlement with the defendant, which is less risky than a case that goes to trial. When a case settles, you can receive compensation in the form of economic damages to cover the cost of treating your injury and noneconomic damages to cover your pain and suffering.

Products Liability cases

People often become injured by using equipment incorrectly, but sometimes a skier injury or a snowboarder injury occurs because of a manufacturing error rather than a consumer error. Products liability cases arise from items that were manufactured incorrectly.

Typically, faulty manufacturing in a products liability case means one of three things: The product failed to warn the consumer about danger associated with using the product; the product was defectively designed; or the product was defectively manufactured. The manufacturer under those circumstances must take responsibility without regard to the manufacturer’s intent or negligence as long as the victim can prove all of these elements:

1. The defendant manufacturer sold the product that the victim used.

2. The defendant is the commercial seller of the product that the victim used.

3. The victim was injured.

4. The product was defective when the defendant sold it to the victim.

5. The product’s defect caused the victim’s injury.

Negligence cases

Negligence cases arise when someone fails to provide the appropriate standard of care. This can be tricky to prove, because you must establish a standard of care (a duty owed to you as a consumer), show that the defendant failed to provide that care (a breach of duty), show that you were injured, and prove that it was the defendant’s breach of duty that caused your injury.

The Duty of Care

The duty of care that a defendant owes a victim varies by case type and defendant type; for example, if your injury was caused by poor signage at the recreational facility where you were skiing, then the facility is the defendant. The duty of care that the facility owed you would be comparable to the standard to which comparable facilities are held. If most facilities use large, brightly colored signs and the one at which you were injured used small signs that blended into the scenery, the facility may have failed to meet the appropriate standard of care to keep patrons safe.

However, if your injury was caused by an amateur skier, that skier is held to the standard of care that a reasonable person would take under the circumstances. If a professional snowboarding guide injured you while he or she was on the job, that guide could be held to a higher, professional standard of care. That means that the professional would be held to the average standard of care expected of professionals in that field.

The Victim’s Injury

You must show that the injury you received is the kind for which you can receive compensation. Therefore, you must suffer some economic or emotional damage from the injury; most physical injuries can meet this requirement. Finally, the defendant’s breach of duty must have caused your injury.

Safety on the slopes

In order to prevent a snowboarding injury or a skier injury, start making sure you have all of the proper equipment for the sport you wish to engage in. Equipment such as warm clothing, goggles, and ski helmets can help you avoid getting seriously injured. Once you have all of the protective gear you need, check it for defects.

One of the particular dangers of skiing and snowboarding has to do with the remote nature of the sports. If you are alone, you might not be able to get the emergency care that you need quickly enough. While it is already difficult for help to arrive if you are high on a mountain, you might not even be able to indicate that you need emergency care if you are by yourself and unable to move, without cell service, or unconscious; having someone you trust with you could be the difference between life and death.

Our personal injury law firm is here for you

Our Greeley personal injury lawyers have the experience that you need on your side to get compensation for your skiing or snowboarding or other winter sport-related injury. We are passionate about helping victims who simply want to return to their normal lives. Whether you were sold a defective piece of equipment or cut off by a negligent skier, you deserve to be made whole again.

A case evaluation can help you decide whether it will be worth your effort to file your claim. You can tell your story to an experienced attorney who deals with cases like yours often and hear the attorney’s opinion about how you should proceed; our lawyers care about your goals for recovery and will take those into consideration when advising you. Call the Zinda Law Group personal injury attorneys at (800) 863-5312 to schedule your free consultation and enjoy the benefits of our No Win, No Fee Guarantee.

Meetings with attorneys are available by appointment only.