Can negligence in operating a motorized wheelchair result in liability for personal injuries? It’s an interesting question and is inspired by a pending Chicago personal injury lawsuit.
Attorney Bob Kraft recently blogged about this case, noting that a motorized wheelchair collision had the potential to cause severe injuries. In this case, the elderly Chicago plaintiff suffered from a broken leg and hip, which required surgery.
The Chicago Tribune recently covered this lawsuit, explaining the basis for the litigation in the article:
(The plaintiff) alleges that her living center, Victory Centre of Roseland LLC, and its parent company, Pathway Senior Living LLC, failed to properly care for and supervise residents when they allowed residents to move “at a speed that was too fast and that endangered other patients.”
Thus, in this case, it appears that the plaintiff is seeking to hold the senior living center liable for her injuries, rather than seeking to recover from the senior citizen who operated the wheelchair.
Whether liability will be successfully established in this case remains to be seen. But, judging from reports of other recent incidents of injuries caused by motorized wheelchair collisions, as described in the article and in Bob Kraft’s blog post, it’s evident that this type of occurrence isn’t uncommon.
Perhaps success in the pending lawsuit will encourage those who operate nursing homes to enact much needed and appropriate safety regulations and procedures that will help to reduce these types of incidents and ensure the safety of all senior living center residents.
Howard Ankin of Ankin Law (www.ankinlaw.com) handles workers’ compensation and personal injury cases. Mr. Ankin can be reached at (312) 600-0000 and howard@ankinlaw.com.