College Park Parking Lot Accident Lawyer
Parking lot accidents involve different dynamics than accidents on the street. A parking lot has aisles, parking spaces, and vehicles backing out of them. Many times, depending upon the size of the parking lot, there may even be marked walkways for pedestrians to have easy access to the businesses. With these dynamics, parking lots, and accidents that occur in parking lots, have different circumstances than accidents that occur on the street.
If you have been involved in an accident in a parking lot, it is imperative to contact a College Park car accident lawyer as soon as possible to ensure you receive a strong defense and the compensation you deserve.
Driver Responsibility
For vehicles that are backing up, the laws concerning the responsibility of the driver who is in reverse are given more weight than on highways and streets where people are normally driving forward. The laws for a backing vehicle state that it is the driver’s responsibility to look out for other vehicles and pedestrians under all circumstances and not back without being able to do so safely and reasonably and without harming another person in the process.
Many times, parking lot accidents occur because of inattentiveness, failure to look, traveling too fast for the circumstances, and otherwise failing to look for expected and known hazards specific to the circumstances of vehicles and pedestrians in the parking lot. Drivers must be very careful of their speed and conduct within parking lots because there are more situations where accidents can easily occur.
Impact on Insurance
Insurance companies treat parking lot accidents like any other motor vehicle accident. The vehicles must adhere to the motor vehicle laws. Pedestrians must also adhere to the laws of walking in the parking lot, which are the same as if they were walking on any other street.
There are more hazards within parking lots because of the volume of vehicles, how they move in the aisles and parking spaces, and how they enter and exit parking lots. The vehicle driver needs to stay in the main thoroughfares of the parking lot and not cut across areas of parking spaces an unreasonable way to travel within parking lots.
Contributory Negligence
It’s incumbent upon pedestrians to move throughout the parking lot in a very safe and reasonable manner and be on the lookout for moving vehicles. For example, if a pedestrian walks too close to the rear of the vehicle, or is not paying attention to the movement of different vehicles, they can be deemed to have not acted reasonably. Therefore, the injured pedestrian would be barred from recovery if a vehicle strikes them and it is determined that the pedestrian had contributed to the accident by even as little as one percent.
Contributory negligence affects vehicles that are struck by another moving vehicle if they have not acted reasonably and if they have contributed to the cause of the accident, even if it as little as one percent. With the volume of cars and pedestrians in parking lots, pedestrians must pay attention and act reasonably, even though they have the right of way. It’s difficult for vehicles to see pedestrians due to vehicles being parked next to each other and moving in reverse, so it is important for all motorists and all pedestrians to be on the lookout for each other and to act reasonably.
How An Attorney Can Help
An attorney can be helpful, particularly in parking lot accidents, by conducting a proper investigation and obtaining any footage of security cameras in the parking lot that can help establish liability of the at fault party. The attorney conducts the investigation of the accident, and the circumstances surrounding it to determine if cause is limited to the at fault driver. The investigation includes examining the physical aspects of the surroundings, parking lot, flow of traffic, and the rules and regulations that control the conduct of vehicles and pedestrians in a parking lot.
The owner of the parking lot, businesses, and/or offices supported by the parking lot may be involved if improper construction, maintenance, signage, or traffic control devices played a role in a parking lot accident. Business owners and the parking lot owners are included in a proper investigation into the cause and circumstances of a parking lot accident. An experienced attorney assists in a proper investigation and pursuit of a claim or lawsuit for the injured party to ensure they maximize the recovery to which they are entitled.