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Did you trip and fall on a broken sidewalk or outdoor walkway?

If you tripped on a cracked sidewalk, a pothole, an uneven curb, or a broken step outside, you are in the right place.

Are you in an emergency right now?

  • Check yourself for injuries, breathing, and bleeding.
  • Call 911 if you are badly hurt or cannot move safely.
  • Get medical care even if you feel fine. Some injuries, like fractures or disc damage, show up days later.
  • This page is for after you are safe.

This page covers trip and fall deadlines and what to do right now. We are the injured person's advocate. We connect you with a lawyer who handles cases like yours, so you get the full settlement your recovery deserves. Always free. Talk to an advocate. We usually reply within minutes, at most one business day.

Trip and fall injuries happen outdoors, often on surfaces that a city, county, or property owner is supposed to maintain. That single fact, who owns and controls the ground you fell on, changes everything about how your case works. This page is different from our general slip and fall guide, which covers indoor spills and store floors. Here we focus on outdoor defects and the special rules that apply when a government body owns the property.

Why outdoor trip and fall cases move on a short clock

Most personal injury claims give you one to several years to file, depending on the state. But if you tripped on a public sidewalk, a city park path, a government building entrance, or any other government-owned property, a much shorter deadline may apply first.

Warning: don't wait! The government notice deadline is a trap. Many states require a formal written "notice of claim" with the city or county before you can sue at all, and this window can be as short as 30 to 180 days from the date you fell, far shorter than the general filing deadline. Miss it, and you may lose your right to any recovery, no matter how clear the city's fault was. The longer you wait, the fuzzier memories get and evidence disappears. And important: if your injury required medical treatment, a separate, often shorter medical deadline may also apply. These deadlines vary by state and by which government body owns the property. See our state pages for details, and check your local government's official site as well.

Cities and counties also try to argue that a defect was too small to count, sometimes called the "trivial defect" rule, or that they never had reasonable notice of the problem before you fell. Evidence like photos of the exact defect, prior complaint records, and repair history all matter, and some of it can be hard to get once a claim is filed against a public agency.

Talk to an advocate. Short government deadlines make the first weeks critical.

What real trip and fall cases have paid

These are publicly reported results. They are examples only, not a promise of what any case is worth. Most cases settle for far less, and many factors affect the outcome.

We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice. These numbers show that outcomes range widely, from modest settlements to multi-million dollar verdicts, depending on the facts, the injury, and how the claim is handled.

When it goes wrong: a true story

Anne Kramer tripped on a raised section of sidewalk on Mariposa Avenue in Palo Alto. Her case was one of several the city faced that year, part of a pattern local reporters found when they looked closer at repeated sidewalk claims across the city (Palo Alto Daily Post). Cases like hers show how ordinary a dangerous sidewalk can look right up until someone gets hurt on it.

The lesson is not that anyone did something wrong by walking down their own street. Sidewalks and public walkways are supposed to be safe. When they are not, the short notice deadlines that apply to government property make the first weeks after a fall critical, which is exactly why an advocate helps early.

What to do in the first days

  1. Get your injury documented by a doctor, even if it seems minor.
  2. Talk to an advocate at WeHelpInjured. It is free.
  3. Take photos of the exact spot: the crack, height difference, pothole, or broken step, from multiple angles, with something for scale.
  4. Note the exact location (address, cross streets, or landmark) and the date and time while you remember it.
  5. Get names and contact information for any witnesses.
  6. Find out who owns the property. A sidewalk can be owned by a city, a county, a state, or in some places an adjacent private owner. This determines which notice deadline applies.
  7. If it may be government property, act fast. Ask about your state's notice-of-claim deadline right away, since it can be far shorter than a typical filing deadline. See our state pages for general guidance and check the government agency's official site.
  8. Never accept a quick settlement offer before you understand the full extent of your injury, and never give a recorded statement to an insurance company, even your own. Talk to your advocate first.

What we can help with

All of it is free to you. We never take money from injured people.

Talk to an advocate. Outdoor fall cases can move fast against you. Let us help you act in time.

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