Legal Blog of Attorney Lawrence B. Saftler

Dangers from Below – How an Open Sidewalk Vault Can Lead to Injury

By lsaftler on January 26, 2010

Walking the streets of New York City can be dangerous.  There’s traffic, pedestrians, and the ever-present, over-eager bike messengers.  Keeping your head on a swivel is something every New Yorker learns early on.  It’s hard enough keeping your eyes looking forward and to the sides for danger, but we must always look down as well for the dangers from below.  City sidewalks are littered with sidewalk vaults.  These doors present dangers to everyone on a daily basis.

The New York City Administrative Code provides for regulation of vaults under any street, sidewalks included.  Pedestrians are entitled to assume that sidewalks are kept in proper condition, and a property owner must adequately maintain and inspect sidewalk vaults and the plates surrounding them.  On this point, the structural integrity of these obstructions is of great importance.

Whether a property owner actually uses the vault set beneath the sidewalk adjacent to his property is irrelevant to his liability for injury caused by it.  Special use of the sidewalk abutting a dwelling will make the owner responsible and strictly liable for the plate over the sidewalk vault in front of the entrance of a multiple unit dwelling.

If you fell through a sidewalk vault and were injured, contact The Saftler Law Firm for help.  We can protect your rights.  After discussing the facts of the incident and the nature of your injury with you, we will be able to determine whether you are entitled to compensation for any injuries you may have suffered.  But don’t forget, keeping your eyes focused on the dangers below can help prevent such necessity.

Posted in Accidents, Defects, Fall Downs, Personal Injury, Sidewalk & Street |