Many people drive through parking lots properly and follow the rules. But some people choose to drive recklessly through parking lots because they think the rules of the road don’t apply. Although the rules of parking lots are not the exact same as regular roads, there are still rules to follow and ignoring those rules can cause serious accidents and injuries.
Parking lot accidents can happen when you’re driving through the lot, pulling into a spot, backing out of a spot, or even from driver error, like leaving the car in neutral. When any of those situations occur, serious injuries can happen. If you’ve been injured in a parking lot accident, you could use the help of an experienced car accident lawyer from Solomon Law Group in Columbia.
Let’s take a look at serious injuries caused by parking lot accidents and how often they occur.
Injuries Caused by Parking Lot Accidents
Whether it’s a collision with another car, a cart, or a pedestrian, parking lot accidents, otherwise known as nontraffic crashes, can cause minor to severe injuries. Even though most are minor incidents without injuries, parking lot accidents kill around 2,000 people each year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that 39% of fatalities are pedestrians or nonoccupants.
As far as injuries go, an average of 91,000 people are injured annually in parking lot accidents, and 35% of those injured are nonoccupants. Some of the most common injuries from these collisions are:
- Bruises
- Broken bones
- Crushing injuries
- Head injuries
- Organ damage
- Other catastrophic injuries
If your injuries are serious in a parking lot, you’ll want to seek medical attention immediately and get the police on the scene so they can investigate liability. Medical attention not only helps you physically, but it will help you later legally in determining how much compensation you deserve. But first, let’s look at the causes of parking lot accidents.
What Causes Parking Lot Accidents?
Parking lots can be overwhelming for drivers. They’re usually tight spaces with other cars, adults walking, children running, and the pressure to find a parking spot. Even for the most experienced driver, those factors can be hard to navigate with full attention. When drivers are distracted in parking lots, all chances of safety go out the window.
Many people attempt to multitask while in a parking lot. According to the National Safety Council, some distracting things drivers and pedestrians will do are:
- Make a phone call
- Text
- Get on social media
- Take photos
- Groom themselves
- Think of their to-do list
When one of these accidents happen, though, who is responsible? Since a parking lot is different from the highway, how is fault determined?
Who Is at Fault?
Fault can be especially hard to determine in a parking lot crash because every driver or person involved will probably claim that they were acting with caution. Since the police are usually only called when someone is hurt by a collision in a parking lot, it can be even harder to prove fault if the police aren’t there to examine the scene and determine fault. Your best course of action after getting into a car accident in a parking lot is to call the police, give an honest statement, don’t apologize, and collect as much evidence as possible. After that, you should hire a lawyer who will hold the liable party responsible.
If you’ve been in a car accident in a parking lot, or anywhere else in Columbia that caused injuries or damages and it wasn’t your fault, then you could use the help of a car accident lawyer from Solomon Law Group. We’ll look at all the facts of your accident and investigate who was at fault so that you can get maximum compensation for your injuries and new financial burdens. Reach out to our office today and we can discuss your potential claim.
