If you were badly injured from an accident at a 7-Eleven store in Florida, it is a good idea that you should reach out to the best Florida personal injury law firm for help. It may feel intimidating to call a lawyer when you’ve been hurt. Perhaps you think you can’t afford to get legal help. But if you don’t know what your legal rights are, it can cost you far more. Find about your legal rights by calling Wolfson & Leon today any time day or night at 305-285-1115. We represent injured victims throughout Florida.
History of 7-Eleven Stores
Back in 1927, John Jefferson Green started the Tote’m Store. The establishment sold ice to customers. Seeing a need for customers to buy essential grocery items at stores that were closer to their homes, Green added bread, eggs, and milk to his product mix. In the late 1920s, some Tote’m Stores were equipped with gas stations.
Almost 20 years later, Tote’m Stores changed its name to 7-Eleven to match its 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM operating hours. The company continued to add more stores and, eventually, launched its first 24-hour store in Austin, Texas. When 7-Eleven bought 126 Speedee Mart stores in 1963, the company entered the franchise market.
7-Eleven was a groundbreaking convenience store as it was the first in the country to remain open for 24 hours for all seven days of the week. They were the first convenience store to sell gasoline, offer self-serve soda fountains, and offer ATM services.
Today, 7-Eleven operates, franchises, or licenses over 71,000 stores throughout the world. They are known for their Slurpee drinks and Big Gulp beverages. You will find a wide variety of groceries, freshly made sandwiches, and bakery items. With most stores open 24 hours a day, 7-Eleven is still a popular convenience store.
Florida 7-Eleven Stores
You will find thousands of 7-Eleven stores throughout Florida. Major cities, such as Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Fort Myers and Tampa, have hundreds of locations. The company has opened or renovated stores in such cities as Ocala, Bradenton, Deerfield Beach, and Naples.
Common Accidents at 7-Eleven Stores
With so many stores in Florida, it is hard not to find a 7-Eleven around. These convenient stores make it easy for people to fill up their gas tank, grab a cup of coffee, or pick up a gallon of milk on the way home.
Yet even convenience can pose hazards to shoppers. High traffic, large volumes of people, and daily deliveries can be dangerous. If a store owner or manager doesn’t properly maintain the store, people can get hurt. Common ways that people get hurt at Florida 7-Eleven stores include:
- Parking lot accidents: At a busy 7-Eleven store, you can expect multiple cars to be pulling in and out of the store. Early mornings or late afternoons can see exceptionally high traffic as people are traveling to and from work. Vehicles pulling in from busy streets or cars backing out of parking spaces can be dangerous to people walking to and from the store. Large delivery trucks parked by curbs can block a driver’s view of the lot.
- Security issues: If a store owner or manager does not ensure that property safety measures are in place, people can be hurt. Parking lots with burned-out fixtures or lighting that is very dim can be risky for people.
- Slip or trip and fall: 7-Eleven has self-serve soda, coffee, and Slurpee machines inside. Customers filling up their cups can spill liquid onto the floor. Most stores have many refrigerators to keep groceries cold, which can leak or cause condensation to form on the floor if they aren’t working correctly. People can also slip and fall on loose doormats or debris lying on the floor. Newly mopped floors pose a slip and fall hazard if people don’t know that the surface is slick.
- Customers may also be injured when as they walk outside. Hidden curbs or broken parking stops can be a tripping hazard to people. If the owner doesn’t properly maintain the areas that cars travel over, it can result in potholes and broken pavement that people can trip over when walking through the lot. Drivers filling up their gas tanks can slip and fall if other cars have leaked oil or other liquid around the pumps.
- Falling items: People can get hurt if they are hit by falling items such as merchandise, signs, or displays. When falling objects hit people, it can cause severe injuries to their head, neck, or back. If a heavy item falls on a child, it can crush them.
Common Injuries at a 7-Eleven Store
When people get hurt in an accident at a 7-Eleven convenience store, the severity of their injuries can vary widely. They may experience minor cuts, bruises, or scrapes if they trip or slip and fall.
However, there are times where injuries may be far more severe:
- Head trauma: If you hit your head when falling in the store or parking lot, you could have a concussion. A more serious blow could result in torn tissues, skull fractures, or bleeding in your brain. These traumatic brain injuries may take several days or weeks to heal. In some cases, the effects of their injuries might be permanent.
- Broken bones: A person may break a bone if they are trying to prevent themselves from falling. You can also break bones if you are hit by a falling object or trip outside over a pothole or broken curb.
- Sprains, tears, and strains: You can strain muscles or sprain ligaments when you fall. These can be painful injuries that take days or weeks to recover from.
Your level of injury determines how much time you need to recover. You may need a few days, a few weeks, or even longer. Continued medical treatment and physical therapy may be necessary to get your life back to where it was before the accident. Not only can these be costly, but you may also not be able to work while you recover. If you don’t have a job that pays you sick or vacation time, you could be facing a severe financial crisis if you have no money to pay your household bills.
When involved in an accident, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible. Even if your injuries are nothing more than a few cuts, if anything at all, it’s a good idea to visit a doctor. You may have hurt your back, hit your head, or even broken a bone without knowing it. If you don’t get checked out soon after the accident, you can make the injury worse.
7-Eleven Accident Injury Law Firm
When you have been injured at a 7-Eleven or any other convenience store in Florida, you should seek help from Wolfson & Leon. We offer a free consultation where we review your case. Feel free to ask questions about what settlement options may be available or how the process works.
If you have a case, the personal injury lawyer at Wolfson & Leon handles all phone calls, correspondence, and negotiations for you. We also handle legal representation in court if your case requires it.
When you work with Wolfson & Leon, you don’t have to worry about coming up with the money to pay for our legal fees to get started. We work on a contingent fee basis, so we are only paid for our services if your case gets settled. This arrangement helps ensure that you get the legal help you need, especially if you can’t afford to pay fees.
Wolfson & Leon defends clients throughout Florida from their offices in Fort Myers, Miami, West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Learn more about Wolfson & Leon and how our personal injury lawyers can help you by calling 239-777-9954 (Fort Myers), or 305-285-1115 (Miami), (954) 530-3918 (Fort Lauderdale) today.