When most people think of a car accident, they assume the vehicles were traveling on a road, highway, or interstate. However, car accidents can occur anywhere including in a parking lot. Parking lots can be a dangerous place for both pedestrians and other drivers. The injuries sustained in a parking lot accident can be just as severe, if not more severe, as injuries sustained in an accident that occurs on an interstate or highway. Drives and pedestrians must be careful when in parking lots to avoid being injured by a careless or negligent driver.
How Do Parking Lot Accidents Occur?
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration warns of the dangers of parking lot accidents in its report, “Fatalities and Injuries in Motor Vehicle Backing Crashes.” Back-over accidents are common in parking lots because drivers fail to watch out of pedestrians walking behind their vehicles when they are backing out of parking spaces.
However, parking lot accidents involve more than just back-over accidents. Drivers in parking lots cause collisions in a variety of ways including but not limited to:
- Failure to watch out for pedestrians and/or other vehicles in the parking lot
- Failing to yield the right-of way to other drivers and/or pedestrians
- Failure to obey traffic signs or other signs
- Driving in the wrong direction
- Trying to “beat” another vehicle to a parking space
- Passing a vehicle that is stopped and colliding with another vehicle and/or pedestrian
- Pulling into a lane and colliding with another vehicle
- Following too closely
- Speeding
Who is Responsible for Paying for the Damages From a Parking Lot Accident?
As with other motor vehicle accidents, if one driver is at fault for the accident, his or her insurance will be responsible for compensating you for your losses and injuries. However, proving who is at fault in a parking lot accident can be complicated, especially if you do not have any eyewitnesses to the accident. An experienced car accident attorney can help you prove fault by conducting a thorough accident investigation and retaining experts to reconstruct the accident to prove the other driver was at fault.
In some cases, the other driver may not be the only party at fault. If a parking lot is poorly designed and/or constructed, the property owner, the designer, or the builder may be at fault for your accident. Your personal injury attorney will discover this through his accident investigation. If more than one party is to blame for your parking lot accident, your attorney will name all of the defendant’s in your lawsuit to increase your chance of receive the maximum compensation allowable by law for your injuries.
Have You Been Injured in a New Orleans Parking Lot Accident?
The Olinde Firm can help you receive the compensation you deserve for your injuries sustained in a parking lot accident. Low-impact car accidents, common in parking lots can result in serious and permanent medical conditions that require long-term medical and/or personal care. You are entitled to be compensated for your medical bills, lost wages, property damage, physical pain, mental anguish, and other compensable damages.
Contact our office for a free case evaluation. We never charge you an attorney fee until and unless we win compensation for your damages and injuries. Call us today for your free legal consultation.