What to Do When a Tree Falls on You?

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Oxnard is home to many of California’s estimated over 7 billion trees. And while large and beautiful trees are vital to keeping our environment clean and our health in check, they can be a potential threat to your health and property.

This was the case in September, when five people were injured after an elm tree branch weighing hundreds of pounds fell at an elementary school in Ojai, Ventura City.

The 20-feet long branch, weighing between 300 and 500 pounds, left a teacher and student critically injured, while the other two students sustained moderate injuries and another one minor injuries.

The case is being investigated by local authorities and it’s unclear if any of the injured students or the teacher will get compensation for their injuries that may cost them several thousand dollars in medical bills.

What if something like that happens to you? What to do when a tree falls on you in Oxnard, Ventura County or anywhere else in California?

Who should be held accountable for your injuries sustained by a tree’s collapse?

Today, our personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of J. Jeffrey Herman are going to answer your questions.

What are the main causes of falling trees?

There are quite a few potential causes of a tree falls in California, including:

  • improper planting of the trees by local arboriculturists (aka ‘tree surgeons’) or a property owner
  • failure to trim branches regularly
  • failure to monitor trees for disease and failure to treat trees for disease
  • weather conditions or natural disasters (lightning, winds, storms, hurricanes, earthquakes) that may knock down trees and contribute to their collapse over time.

The main reason for trees collapsing on private properties or in public places in Oxnard is the improper maintenance of those trees. The failure to conduct timely and reasonable inspections of the trees may injure passers-by and/or damage their personal property (cars, bicycles, motorcycles, etc.).

If you or your loved ones have been injured as a result of falling trees in Oxnard, Ventura County or anywhere else in California, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our personal injury attorney for a free initial consultation.

Fact: the speed of your recovery depends on the amount of compensation you can get for your injuries, as medical expenses to treat injuries caused by a tree’s collapse can be rather overwhelming.

Direct and indirect dangers of falling trees

  • direct impact from a tree’s collapse of its falling branches
  • electrocution triggered by a tree or its branch hitting a power line
  • motor vehicle accidents by trees falling in roadways
  • human falls as a result of tree roots damaging sidewalks, stairs, etc.
  • poor visibility for pedestrians and car drivers caused by unmaintained trees.

So, what to do when a tree falls on you?

If you sustained an injury caused by any of the above-mentioned direct and indirect dangers posed by falling trees, call 911 to treat and document your injuries.

Afterward, get in touch with an experienced personal injury attorney to investigate the cause of the tree’s collapse and determine the liability in your particular case.

Determining someone else’s liability when an injury was caused by a tree’s fall may be practically impossible without having a personal injury attorney on board to launch an independent investigation into your case.

Our personal injury lawyers here at the Law Offices of J. Jeffrey Herman follow these guidelines to obtain compensation on your behalf:

  • document your injuries
  • establish the ownership of this particular tree
  • prove that the property owner (private property) or Oxnard (a public place) had legal responsibility for the tree in question
  • prove that the injury was sustained due to the negligence of the property owner or Oxnard, which maintained the tree improperly.

You may be entitled to compensation for your injuries, lost wages, medical expenses, emotional trauma and other damages.

Call our Oxnard personal injury attorney at 805-983-2344 or fill out this contact form to get a free initial consultation.

The Law Offices of J. Jeffrey Herman has a focus on personal injury cases in other parts of California.

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