Every winter, icy road conditions in the Greater Toronto Area bring a spate of slip and fall suits against the city. Unplowed roads and icy sidewalks make for treacherous conditions, and several people are injured each year.

However, not every injury will result in a successful claim: a claimant has to prove that the city is guilty of gross negligence in the conditions leading to the injury. But what if it was cheaper for the city to settle suits, than to clear some public thoroughfares?

A 2004-report indicated only three quarters of Toronto’s sidewalks are plowed and salted each year, leaving approximately 2000 kilometers of neglected walkways. If the city were to maintain those walkways, it would cost close to $30 million a year — more than double what it currently spends annually ($12 million) on maintaining these public access routes for pedestrians, and several times more than the $5.5 million paid out in personal injury claims last year.

Last month, Toronto released its figures on slip and fall injury claims brought against the city in 2008. The numbers, up significantly from the year before, were made public only after a freedom of information act was filed by the Toronto Star.

More than 500 slip-and-fall claims were brought against the city last year. In fact, the number of slip-and-fall claims, say lawyers, is directly related to how much snowfall each winter brings. In 2008, for example, there were 533 slip-and-fall injuries; whereas 2007, which had a comparatively mild winter, saw only 368.

As legal professionals will attest, the toughest slip-and-fall personal injury claims for the city to defend take place on sections that remain unplowed in Central Toronto. Every one of these claims, in which the victim is awarded restitution for their injuries, time lost on the job, etc., is paid with taxpayers’ money.

Take Vier Guy, an Ontario nurse who slipped and fell on an icy patch of a public laneway in December 2008, fractured her wrist and, upon suing the city, was awarded close to $34,000 in damages. A 68-year old woman received $104,000 after fracturing her ankle on a sidewalk the city doesn’t plow.

So how should you proceed if you are injured in a similar situation? The important thing to remember, say personal injury lawyers, is to know that you may be compensated if you fall victim to a slip-and-fall — that goes for tripping over hidden objects, or improperly kept laneways, sidewalks, and pedestrian crossings out of winter, as well.

Upon injury, it is imperative the victim immediately contact a lawyer. Depending on who or what entity was at fault, a victim might have only days to make a personal injury claim. Often victims go without compensation; some feel they don’t deserve it because they were carrying something heavy, or weren’t wearing the proper footwear.

When it comes to filing a personal injury claim against the city, gross negligence must be proven, meaning should your case go to court, you must establish that beyond a doubt whatever caused your injury could have and should have been prevented. Proper legal counsel is the safest and most assured way to go about this.