Slipping and Falling on Ice Is the Cause of Many Winter Personal Injuries

December 07, 2021, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

Ice and snow are a fact of life in Canada. Walking on it is always dangerous and even when municipalities, businesses and homeowners are diligent they still happen. Property owners have a duty to make walkways and stairs and laneways on their properties safe in the winter and can be held responsible for injuries that occur when someone slips and falls.

In most personal injury cases involving snow and ice there is a discussion about the type of footwear being worn at the time of the accident. If you are wearing high heels or flip flops you may not be eligible for full accident benefits as you may be partly at blame for the mishap.

Most of us buy and wear winter boots when the snow and ice come, and many of us assume that winter boots are effective. A recent CBC Marketplace analysis told a different story though. The journalist team purchased and then tested several of the most popular brands of winter boots to see how well they gripped snow and ice and the results were disappointing.

Five out of six brands FAILED the slip test on ice. They tested the boots in conjunction with the KITE Research Institute, University Network Rehabilitation Institute. Researchers there conducted Maximum Achievable Angle tests for each pair of boots up to a 15 degree incline. Generally, ramps and curb ramps in Ontario shouldn’t exceed about 7 degrees.

What they found was that only one brand of boot WindRiver, allowed walking uphill at a 15 degree angle without slipping, and downhill at a 14 degree angle. What set the boots apart was the tread of the boot which contains “abrasive materials mixed with the soft rubber compound to provide traction on wet ice.”
You can read the entire analysis here.

If you injure yourself in a slip and fall accident you should contact one of our highly experienced personal injury lawyers. In some cases, the time period you have to file a claim is extremely short.

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

It is important that you review your accident benefit file with one of our experienced personal injury / car accident lawyers to ensure that you obtain access to all your benefits which include, but are limited to, things like physiotherapy, income replacement benefits, vocational retraining and home modifications.