Maryland Parking Lot Car Accident Lawyer
Involved in an accident in a parking lot? If so, the following is what you should know before filing an injury claim. To learn more call and schedule a consultation with a Maryland car accident attorney today.
Parking Lot Accidents vs Car Accidents
One of the chief differences in a parking lot accident is that the accidents are at low speed because people don’t drive as quickly as they do in the street as they would in a parking lot. Typically the posted speed limit in DC or Maryland for a non-highway is between 25 and 30 miles an hour. In a parking lot people are typically traveling between 5 and 15 miles an hour as they navigate the aisles and spaces in the parking lot.
One of the big things in parking lot accidents and if you’re talking about automobile accidents in parking lots would be that people will back out of a spot without looking both ways and because they’ve done that they’ve backed into someone. When people are in reverse the law says that they should be paying full time and attention to what they’re doing and make sure that they’re backing up when it’s safe to back up.
If they have hit someone when they are backing up that obviously wasn’t a safe time to back up and the person who is going in reverse is typically going to be found at fault because they should have been looking where they were going.
Accidents Involving Pedestrians
If you’re talking about accidents involving pedestrians, pedestrians can be hit by cars that are backing up or they’re driving too aggressively in the parking lot or they can also have slip and fall accidents in a parking lot because the asphalt or the cement or the walkways weren’t adequately or recently maintained and kept in good repair. So those are the typical accidents that can happen in a parking lot.
Rules Of Safe Driving
If the driver is driving in reverse in a parking lot they should definitely be more careful than when they’re driving forwards because you know they really can’t see where they’re going and other people might not see where they’re going. So especially at night driving in reverse is always more dangerous than driving forwards, and therefore you supposed to pay more time and attention because people go in and out of parking spots or parking spaces. So they should pay higher duty of care when they are driving in a parking lot.
Insurance Companies Treatment of Parked Vehicle Accident in Maryland
They treat them just like any other accident. What they do is they have to determine who is at fault and if they’re insured or the person that holds their insurance policy is the one who is at fault and you’re able to prove that they are 100% at fault then they would move on from liability to damaged aspect of the case and decide who had the injuries and what those injuries are and what the extent to those injuries are and how long they’ll last and if there is any future injuries or things like that.
Does Walking Around The Parking Lot Constitute Contributory Negligence?
The mere act of walking in a parking lot is not a contributory negligence because once the people park it’s a reasonable expectation that they’re going to walk out of their cars and walk to wherever they’re going. So the mere act of walking in a parking lot where other cars are parked is not contributory negligence by itself.
If you’re walking between cars and you’re hit by a car because you’re on a cell phone or you were talking to someone or you’re just distracted in general then that could be an element of contributory negligence. If you are contributory negligent then you will be able to recover for your injuries. So that it could be a factor that prevents you from recovering for your injuries but it’s not by itself contributory negligence.
Contact Our Maryland Parking Lot Car Accident Lawyers
You do want to look for an attorney who deals exclusively in accident cases, who is experienced in handling accident cases, and who practices in the jurisdiction where your accident happened. You want someone with a support staff and a good system in place so that they can help you in your case go along as smooth and as quickly as possible.
You also want someone who you can feel comfortable with and that you feel that you can trust and you just want to make this as easy as possible for you.