Key Takeaways
- Serious injuries are common: Slip and fall accidents can lead to head injuries, fractures, internal bleeding, and traumatic brain injuries—especially among older adults.
- Hazardous conditions matter: Wet floors, uneven sidewalks, loose rugs, broken stairs, poor maintenance, and unsafe ladders frequently cause falls.
- Premises liability applies: Property owners and occupiers have a legal duty to maintain safe conditions or warn visitors of known dangers.
- Proof is essential: You must show the owner knew—or should have known—about the hazardous condition and failed to fix or warn about it.
- Insurance companies minimize claims: Having an attorney protects you from low settlement offers and strengthens your negotiating position.
- No upfront fees: We handle Hollister slip and fall cases on a contingency basis—you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.
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Common Slip & Fall Injuries
Slip and fall accidents can cause devastating injuries. The older you are, the more serious these injuries can be. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that one out of five falls results in serious injuries, such as a head injury or broken bone.
These CDC statistics show that around three million older people seek treatment in emergency rooms every year for injuries related to a fall. Of those, over 800,000 people require hospitalization. More than 95% of hip fractures are caused by falling. And falls account for the most traumatic brain injuries.
Other possible injuries include internal bleeding and organ damage, fractured or broken bones, different types of head injuries, puncture wounds, and more.
Common Causes Of Slip And Fall Accidents
Slips and falls can happen literally anywhere—parking lots, sidewalks, neighbors’ houses, grocery stores, restaurants, malls, escalators, theme parks, etc. Some of the most common causes of slip and fall accidents include:
- Wet floors;
- Other hazards or debris on floors;
- Uneven flooring or loose carpeting;
- Broken stair or railing;
- Uneven sidewalks;
- Loose rugs or mats;
- Rain or snow; or
- Unsafe ladders.
It’s not unheard of to have multiple factors contribute to a trip & fall accident either. Perhaps the entryway was slippery due to rain, and an already loose rug came out underneath you, causing you to fall.
Where Slip and Fall Accidents Happen in Hollister
Hollister is in the middle of a significant retail expansion — over 300,000 square feet of new commercial space is being developed, including Hollister Farms along Highway 25 (approximately 120,000 sq ft), the Santana Ranch development at Hillcrest and Fairview Roads (proposed 65,000 sq ft), and ongoing growth along the San Felipe Road corridor. New development creates specific slip and fall hazards: fresh concrete with uneven transitions between surfaces, parking lots not yet properly graded for drainage, construction debris near open businesses, and flooring that hasn’t been properly tested under real foot-traffic conditions.
San Felipe Road Retail Corridor — The Hollister Gateway Center
Hollister’s primary retail corridor on San Felipe Road anchors the grocery stores, pharmacies, and big-box retailers that serve the city’s 44,000 residents. Wet floors near produce sections and refrigeration units, uneven parking lot surfaces where new asphalt meets old, inadequate lighting in loading areas these are recurring hazards in this corridor. Under California law, stores are required to conduct regular inspections and address or warn about hazardous conditions within a reasonable time. The legal phrase is ‘should have known’ a store whose employees walk past a spill on a regular inspection route has breached its duty, even if no customer specifically reported it.
Surveillance footage from these stores showing the period before your fall is the most important evidence in most slip and fall cases. It shows how long the hazard existed and whether employees passed it without acting. This footage is typically overwritten in 24 to 72 hours. Silva Injury Law sends preservation letters the same day we are retained. Call us the day of your fall.
Downtown Hollister — San Benito Street and City Sidewalks
Downtown Hollister’s older sidewalks along San Benito Street are subject to tree root uplift, settled concrete panels, and deteriorating curb cuts. When a fall occurs on a city-maintained sidewalk, the responsible party is the City of Hollister and the deadline to file a claim is dramatically shorter than for private property. Under California Government Code §911.2, any claim against the City of Hollister must be filed with the City Clerk at 375 Fifth Street within six months of the date of injury. Missing this deadline permanently bars your claim. Contact Silva Injury Law immediately after any fall on a Hollister city sidewalk or public space.
Apartment Complexes and Rental Properties
Hollister’s rapid population growth more than 11% since the 2020 census has brought significant apartment expansion throughout the city. Landlords have a legal duty under Civil Code §1714 to maintain safe conditions in all common areas. Stairwells with inadequate lighting, broken handrails, unmarked parking lot potholes, and pool surrounds without slip-resistant surfaces are all documented sources of tenant injury. Prior maintenance request records and complaint logs which your attorney subpoenas establish what the property owner knew and when.
Hollister Farms and New Retail Development
At new developments like Hollister Farms along Highway 25, construction-phase hazards are real and create liability: freshly poured concrete with unfinished transitions, drainage not yet graded, temporary site boundaries adjacent to open stores, and flooring installations between different retail spaces that create trip hazards. When falls occur at developing retail locations, the investigation must determine whether the hazard was a construction-phase issue which may involve developer liability or a maintenance failure by the operating tenant.
California Premises Liability Law: What Your Claim Must Establish
The Four-Element Test Under CACI 1000
Every slip and fall claim in California is evaluated against California Civil Code §1714 and California Civil Jury Instruction (CACI) 1000. Your claim must establish four things: (1) the defendant owned, leased, or controlled the property; (2) the defendant was negligent they created the hazard, knew about it, or should have known about it and failed to fix or warn; (3) you were harmed; and (4) the defendant’s negligence was a substantial factor in causing your harm. The second element what they knew or should have known is contested in virtually every case. Surveillance footage, inspection logs, maintenance records, and prior incident history resolve it.
The ‘Open and Obvious’ Defense
Property owners routinely argue the hazard was ‘open and obvious’ and that you should have seen it. California courts have not accepted this as an automatic bar to recovery. Even a visible hazard creates liability when the property owner should have anticipated that visitors shoppers carrying bags, people focused on merchandise might not perceive or avoid it. A wet floor sign placed so that customers must walk through the wet area to get around it does not relieve the store of liability. Your attorney challenges this defense with evidence specific to the conditions at the time of your fall.
Statute of Limitations — Three Deadlines to Know
Private property falls: two years under Cal. Civ. Proc. Code §335.1. City of Hollister / San Benito County property: six months to file a government claim under Cal. Gov. Code §911.2. Minor victims: the two-year clock is tolled until the 18th birthday, but the six-month government entity deadline still applies through a parent or guardian. Discovery rule: if the injury was not immediately apparent, the two-year clock may begin from when you discovered or reasonably should have discovered the harm.
What to Do After a Fall in Hollister
Step 1: Report the incident to the store manager or property owner before leaving. Insist on a formal incident report. Request a copy or photograph it immediately.
Step 2: Photograph the exact hazard, your shoes, your clothing, and any visible injuries before anything is cleaned up or removed.
Step 3: Seek medical care the same day — Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital ER, 911 Sunset Drive, (831) 637-5711.
Step 4: Call Silva Injury Law at before speaking with any insurer. We send the surveillance preservation letter on the day we are retained.
Slip and Fall Statistics
▸ 8 million+ ER visits from falls annually in the US — the leading cause of ER visits nationwide — CDC
▸ Falls are the leading cause of traumatic brain injury in the United States, ahead of car accidents — CDC
▸ 22% of fall injuries result in 31+ days of missed work — directly impacting Hollister’s agricultural and food processing workers — BLS / OSHA
▸ A California jury awarded $2.45 million in 2024 to a woman who fell due to a parking lot pothole at Walmart — illustrating what California courts award when negligence is documented — California court record, 2024
▸ Government entity falls in Hollister: claim must be filed within 6 months under Cal. Gov. Code §911.2 — NOT the standard 2-year limit — California Government Code §911.2
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