Parking garages provide an ideal way to fit a lot of cars into a small area, but with the convenience of the garage comes with a lot of different hazards. A variety of injuries may occur in a parking garage and each type includes different elements to impact a personal injury case.
Use our guide to determine the accident you were involved in and how the case may proceed based upon how the injuries occurred. There could be several liable parties involved in a single case and understanding various circumstances will help you have the best outcome for your potential case.
Car Crashes
Parking garages can quickly get congested with vehicles, and parking spaces are often tightly packed together. In some instances, you may be driving through a parking garage when another car hits you.
Naturally, the other driver and their insurance company would be held liable for the injuries, but there could be other factors in play. For example, a parking garage may have worn, broken, or no signs to help with the flow of traffic. Inadequate lighting may have made it a challenge to see the other vehicles.
A full investigation will showcase if any of these factors went into play. If so, you may be able to find other liable parties associated with the case.
Pedestrian Injuries
Collisions with pedestrians can also occur in parking garages, as drivers often exceed the speed limit or fail to mind the blind spots. In a pedestrian accident, the driver is almost always liable for the injuries. Other factors may come into play, but the driver should have been aware of people coming and going to their vehicles in a structure like a parking garage.
Factors like the speed of the driver’s vehicle will often come into play to help add evidence to the case. For example, a car may have sped around the corner of a parking garage and hit a person. Many parking garages have low speed limit signs posted, which will further implicate an at-fault driver for the accident.
A lawyer may be able to obtain camera footage of the accident to show any form of speeding and exactly how the accident took place.
Slip & Fall Accidents
A slip and fall accident can cause injuries even without a vehicle. Parking garages wear down over time and the conditions of the parking garage floor could create unsafe walking conditions.
A slip and fall accident may also occur near a stairway or elevator with unsafe conditions. Open air parking garages could have weather exposure like rain or snow that creates hazards.
In the case of the slip and fall accident, there may be multiple liable parties. In some cases, the business you are visiting may own the parking garage. In other cases, a separate company may own the parking garage and become the liable party. Some garages are public areas that do not serve one specific location.
Even if there is a separate parking garage owner, a lawyer may hold the business you were visiting liable if a majority of the garage is used for their business. For example, if you were injured while parked at a mall parking garage, then the mall could be held liable for the injuries.
The mall understands that a majority of its customers will use the attached parking garage for access and the garage should be a safe environment where people are not exposed to dangerous slip and fall hazards.
If you’ve been injured in a parking garage in any way, then contact us at Gelman Gelman Wiskow & McCarthy LLC. We will consult you on your case and have years of professional experience in dealing with personal injuries.
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