When you are injured in a parking lot, the property owner may be held liable for your injuries. If you can prove negligence and causation in regards to the injury, the property owner may be responsible for the damages caused—whether they are physical, mental, or emotional.
Premise Liability
Premise liability laws include property secure measures, meaning that if there is a clear need for extra security and that need is not met, the owner could be held liable. For example, there may be a need for a security guard, a security camera, some extra lighting, and so on. A property should be a safe place, especially if it is public property. If these property security measures are not met and a personal injury occurs as a result, the property owner could be held liable. Failing to make a parking lot safe leaves the owner vulnerable to a premise liability lawsuit. The personal injury could be physical, emotional, or mental—no matter, if there are damages a property owner could be liable.
Auto Collisions in Parking Lots
If an injury occurs during an auto accident in a parking lot, there may be multiple people who could be liable. Personal injuries that are sustained such as whiplash or a concussion may be due to someone else’s neglectful actions. These neglectful actions could be because of another’s driving failures or it may be from the property owner’s neglect of their property. For example, if there is improper lighting, inadequate signage, or potholes—these things could lead to an accident and leave them liable for the damages. Essentially, if that is a hazard that could have been taken care of by the property owner and were not, they may be considered neglectful and could be held liable.
Slips, Trips, and Falls in Parking Lots
A common cause of personal injuries are slips, trips, and falls. These are especially common in parking lots where there are often things to slip on or trip over like ice, curbs, an uneven road, etc. Physical personal injuries such as broken bones, head and brain injuries, cuts, can easily occur in parking lots. When these things happen, a property owner may be legally responsible. For a property owner to be held liable for a personal injury, they must be neglectful, and those neglectful actions must have caused the personal injury.
A property owner is responsible to maintain a safe property. They should conduct routine maintenance checks to ensure their property is as safe as possible. There may be some things that are unavoidable. For example, if there is a blizzard, signage may be clear and present but covered in snow during a blizzard. Or something like ice is not always avoidable. However, the property owner should clear away ice as much as they can within a reasonable amount of time.
If you’ve experienced an injury in a parking lot recently, contact us at Flickinger • Boulton • Robson • Weeks. Our experienced lawyers are ready to help you through any case!