Why Surveillance Footage Can Be Critical in Slip and Fall Claims
After a slip and fall accident in a store, parking lot, or apartment building, proving what caused your injury can be difficult. The property owner may dispute the presence of a dangerous condition or claim they had no reasonable opportunity to address it. Surveillance footage can provide valuable evidence by showing what caused your fall, how long the hazard existed, and whether anyone took steps to correct it.
However, businesses and property owners may delete or overwrite recordings before you have a chance to obtain them. Acting quickly to preserve this evidence can make a significant difference in your slip and fall claim.
At Goodwin Johnston, we help injured people throughout Kansas and Missouri investigate slip and fall accidents, preserve important evidence, and pursue compensation. Our trial lawyers have recovered millions for injury victims and understand how to challenge disputed liability claims. Contact us to discuss your accident and how surveillance footage may help support your case.
What Surveillance Footage Can Show
Surveillance video can capture the hazard, the fall, and the moments around it, giving an insurance adjuster or jury something concrete to evaluate. Depending on where cameras were placed, a recording may show:
The condition itself, such as liquid on tile, ice near a doorway, or a cord stretched across an aisle.
Whether warning signs, cones, or barriers were in place.
Employees walking past or near the hazard before you fell.
How you were walking, what you were carrying, and where you were looking.
How you landed, which may help establish how the accident occurred and whether it is consistent with your reported injuries.
Photos taken afterward can show what a floor looked like, but they rarely show how a hazard developed or how quickly staff responded. Video may provide that missing context, especially when recordings capture the area before and after the accident. However, camera angles, obstructions, and missing footage can limit what a recording proves.
Proving the Owner Knew About the Hazard
In many slip and fall cases, the hardest question isn't whether the floor was slippery but whether the owner knew or should have known about it. In Kansas and Missouri, proving negligence often involves showing that the property owner or business failed to address a dangerous condition despite knowing about it or having a reasonable opportunity to discover it.
However, proving prior notice may not be necessary in the same way when the property owner or an employee created the hazard.
A time-stamped recording may show how long a spill remained on the floor or whether employees noticed it before your accident. For example, footage showing a puddle left unattended for an extended period could support constructive notice, meaning the business should reasonably have discovered the danger. Whether that evidence is sufficient depends on the circumstances.
Without footage, these cases can turn into a dispute between your recollection and the store's inspection logs. At Goodwin Johnston, we provide premises liability representation and review surveillance footage alongside cleaning schedules, inspection logs, and incident reports to identify inconsistencies and evaluate whether the property owner took reasonable precautions.
How Video Affects Shared-Fault Arguments
Insurers often argue that an injured person was partly to blame, whether for looking at a phone, wearing the wrong shoes, or ignoring a warning sign. Footage can confirm or refute those claims, and the stakes depend on which state your fall happened in.
Under K.S.A. 60-258a, Kansas follows modified comparative fault. Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, and you generally can't recover anything if you're found 50% or more at fault. Missouri follows pure comparative fault in ordinary negligence cases, allowing recovery even when you bear most of the fault, although your damages are reduced by your assigned percentage.
For example, if you suffered $100,000 in damages but were found 30% responsible for the accident, your recovery would generally be reduced to $70,000. In Kansas, however, a finding that you were 50% responsible would prevent recovery under its comparative fault rule.
Surveillance footage showing that you walked carefully or that warning signs were missing may help challenge allegations of shared fault. However, footage showing that you ignored a visible warning could also weaken your claim.
Why Footage Can Disappear Within Days
Businesses may automatically overwrite surveillance recordings within days or weeks, depending on their retention policies. If litigation is reasonably anticipated, they may have a duty to preserve relevant footage, but missing recordings do not automatically result in court penalties. To protect potential evidence, take these measures as soon as possible:
Report the accident and request an incident report.
Record the date, time, location, and nearby cameras.
Ask the business in writing to preserve footage from before, during, and after your fall.
Collect witness names and contact information.
An attorney can send a formal preservation request and seek footage through legal procedures if necessary. Reporting the accident alone does not guarantee that recordings will be saved.
Kansas generally allows two years to file a personal injury lawsuit, while Missouri generally allows five years. Exceptions may apply, particularly to government-related claims. Regardless of the filing deadline, surveillance footage could disappear much sooner.
Get Help From Our Kansas Slip and Fall Attorneys
Surveillance footage can strengthen your slip and fall claim, but its value depends on what the cameras captured and whether the recordings are still available. Preserving footage early gives you a better opportunity to establish what happened.
At Goodwin Johnston, we represent injury victims throughout Missouri, including Kansas City, St. Joseph, Springfield, Columbia, and St. Louis, and Kansas, including Kansas City, Lawrence, Manhattan, Wichita, and Topeka.
Our attorneys, Andrew Goodwin and Matthew Johnston, are experienced trial lawyers who can review surveillance footage, investigate disputed facts, and present evidence during settlement negotiations or at trial. Contact us to schedule a consultation and discuss your case.
