Parking Lot Injuries: Can I Sue?

Premises liability law is something that you must understand if you have had an accident on somebody else’s property and want to know who can be held responsible for your injuries. These claims are mostly based on negligence when a property owner does not abide by the standard duty of care that they owe to visitors.

Premises liability claims will typically revolve around slip and falls, vicious animals attacking, falling into swimming pools, and more. But what happens if you are injured in a store parking lot? Who is held responsible for this based on how the accident occurred?

Various Accident Types

You may think that store parking lot accidents are not too common; however, each year, more than 9,000 pedestrians are killed in parking lots and garages. Now, this is not to say that all parking lot accidents will involve a vehicle, but this is definitely the case for some. Here are some of the most common accidents that take place in parking lots:

• Driver Negligence: Sometimes, drivers are not paying attention to what they are doing. Many pedestrians also feel as if they are safe in a parking lot, but this is not always the case due to the fact that drivers ignore stop signs and yield signs by their own hand.
• Pavement Dangers: Slip and falls happen on pavement surfaces all the time. They result from parking lots that have cracked and uneven pavement and potholes, debris and other slippery substances, weather conditions like ice and snow, and damaged or cracked wheel stops.
• Poor Lighting: Sometimes, parking lots have poor lighting in them. These accidents occur and cause trip and falls. Most parking lots are attached to stores that are open well into the night, which is why this happens.
• Inadequate and Confusing Signage: Ineffectively placed stop, turn, and yield signs can spell trouble! Property owners are always responsible for their poor signage.
• Wheel Stops: These are the things that are in front of your vehicle when you pull into a parking space. If cracked pieces of cement fall off onto the pavement, it can pose an accident risk. Visitors in parking lots may not see them and trip over them.

What Happens When I Become Injured?

Premises liability law says that you can sue the owner of a parking lot if you are injured on their property due to negligence. The store must have failed its duty, though, and you must remember this. Property owners must take special care to watch over said property and make sure it is safe at all times, which means that if they did not know about a particular danger but reasonably should have, they can still be held liable for your injuries. Take for example an ice case: A parking lot is iced over and you slip and fall. Your lawyer must then be able to show that the management should have known that the area would become slippery just from weather reports.

Remember: Every case is different, which is why it is impossible to know if you can recover from your parking lot injury. However, if negligence occurred, it is very possible that you will receive the compensation you deserve for medical expenses, lost work time, and more. Call Maggiano, DiGirolamo & Lizzi today to find out if you have a case. We will work with you every step of the way in your desperate time of need.