If you live in the Bay Area or are traveling through the region, you are likely to know that there are several airports in this heavily populated area. While not the largest in the area, OAK, or Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport, is one of the most often selected by locals. The facility is located within a dozen miles of downtown San Francisco and under ten miles from the heart of Oakland, making it a popular choice for East Bay residents. Covering over 2,600 acres, OAK originally opened in September of 1927, and is owned by the Port of Oakland.

In the early days, OAK covered under 700 acres but was touted as having the longest runway in the world at just over 7,000 feet. Today, the facility is the HUB for FedEx Express and Southwest Airlines, and its annual passenger traffic is nearing 20 million for these two terminals and 29 gate airport. With the steady increase in traffic, there have been many proposals for a much-needed terminal update that would increase the space at OAK to about 830,000 square feet, all encompassed in a single, modern terminal. But approval has never been found for this expansion, leaving passengers jockeying for space as they traverse the limited terminals currently in use.

If you or a loved one has recently been to OAK, you are sure to understand the concerns and potential hazards of this limited space and the safety concerns of a place that is nearing 100 years old. It is all too common for a patron at OAK to suffer an injury due to a simple and very preventable hazard that was overlooked or not fixed correctly due to the age and overuse of the terminal. Everything from aging pipes and infrastructure to outdated flooring surfaces or lighting can come into question when a guest using OAK suffers a slip and fall or trip and fall. If this unfortunate issue has become your new reality, please know that you are not alone in your search for justice and compensation for your losses. The skilled and dedicated legal team at DTLA Law Group is ready to offer our expertise in matters related to an OAK slip and fall or trip and fall injury incident.

Please grab your phone and contact the office staff at DTLA at any hour of the day or night. Our team is available 24/7 to assist you by providing helpful information and resources that will provide peace of mind and confidence that your challenges and hardships will be addressed, and you will be able to return to a normal and less stressful life in the future. When you speak to a team member, they will provide you with more basic information about the rights of personal injury victims, how the legal system was created to help protect you, and the services offered by the DTLA Law Group. In addition, they will help you schedule your free consultation with a seasoned OAK airport slip and fall or trip and fall injury attorney to evaluate your case.

During your free consultation, you will have the opportunity to explain the facts of the incident and your injuries to your DTLA Law Group attorney. Then they will ask any other questions related to the matter that will provide them with a complete understanding of the matter. Finally, they will explain to you the legal merit of the case and your ability to pursue legal action due to any negligence involved in the incident. At that point, you will be well-prepared to begin making wise and well-informed choices about your future and how to resolve the issues caused by the OAK injury incident and the harm you sustained. But please also know that you are never obligated to hire DTLA Law Group to represent you, nor are you required to move forward with any legal action. Our only motivation is to ensure that all personal injury victims like yourself get the help and legal expertise needed to make choices and take the actions that will best meet their immediate and long-term needs. But we ask that you please reach out to our staff swiftly, as there are time limits to take action that could be much more limited than you might expect.

When you imagine a severe injury due to an accident, you most likely think of something very complicated or hard to correct. But sadly, in a facility that dates back nearly 100 years, there are many aspects of the property that are out of date, require constant repairs and care, or are simply past the end of their reliability and service. Things as simple as lighting, safety handrails, and flooring surfaces age and degrade. The results are then slip and fall or trip and fall incidents that can cause catastrophic harm. The issues commonly at the heart of OAK Airport injury cases include:

• Water or other liquids spilled or leaking onto floor surfaces

• Pasamanos de seguridad faltantes o dañados

• Transiciones mal marcadas o sin marcar de una superficie de piso a otra o de una elevación a otra, como escalones o rampas

• Litter or debris falling from overly full trashcans

• Damaged or loose flooring surfaces like tile, laminate, or carpet

• Missing, damaged, or saturated floor mats at entryways

All of these issues can result in severe harm. However, they could have all been addressed with just a minimal effort if the staff at OAK were more focused and had the time needed for complete property inspections and repairs.

Just because you trip or slip and fall while at OAK does not mean you have the right to file a lawsuit. However, premises liability law does provide laws that must be followed by the owner or staff of any public or private space to ensure the safety of guests. The laws dictate the building processes and care required for a safe property. There is also a section that defines what the owner or their staff must do when a hazard is reported to them by a patron or when they locate an issue during an inspection of the property.

Duty of care defines the legal obligation as providing at least the level of care that the average prudent person would deliver when facing a similar safety concern. It also requires the action to be taken within a reasonable amount of time. For example, you see water spilled on the floor in your home, and you immediately wipe it up to avoid an injury incident. The OAK staff must follow that same process. If they fail to act in a timely manner and provide adequate repairs, they can be deemed negligent in their duty of care. Furthermore, if that negligence is later determined to have caused or contributed to the injuries of a guest, the owner of the property can be held liable for the losses and expenses incurred by the injury victim. If you feel negligence was a factor in your OAK injuries, please reach out to DTLA Law Group at your earliest opportunity to explore your options. Our team is here to help 24/7.