Parking Lot Accidents

When most people think of a serious car accident the first thing that comes to mind is a scene on the side of a highway with a mangled and crushed car, an overturned truck or rolled over SUV, but in reality a massive amount of injury accidents occur at low speeds on side streets and in parking lots. Parking lot accidents account for as much as 20 percent of all injury accidents, and thousands of people are injured each year in parking garages and lots. If you or a family member has been injured call Maryland parking lot accident lawyer Benjamin Herbst anytime for a free no obligation consultation. Benjamin helps pedestrians, bicycle riders and vehicle occupants that were injured in a parking lot as a result of someone else’s negligence, and he does whatever it takes to recover the maximum amount of compensation for all of his clients. Benjamin represents clients that were injured anywhere in Maryland, and is willing to travel to any convenient location to discuss the case. All of Benjamin’s client’s are provided with his cell phone number, and have 24-hour access to speak with him about the case. He values results and availability, as being a great lawyer requires both.

Parking lot accidents are common for a variety of reasons, and perhaps the biggest factor is that drivers are frequently distracted when driving through parking lots. Drivers that have just returned to their vehicle are likely to text, call or mess with the radio or GPS and are not always completely focused on their surroundings. A 2016 National Safety Counsel poll revealed that over 60 percent of drivers programed their GPS (now Waze and Google maps) while driving in a parking lot, and over 50 percent texted, talked and even used social media. In addition, parking lots are confined spaces that present a lot of unpredictable obstacles. With the small spaces there is a lower margin of error, and even taking eyes of the road for a split second can lead a driver to swerve into a pedestrian, or back up into a group of people. Pedestrians have the right of way in parking lots regardless of whether they were walking in a crosswalk at the time of an accident. The fact is that there are only crosswalks at certain places within a parking lot, and you simply cannot walk the entire way from your car to a store in a crosswalk. In 2018 almost 4,000 pedestrians in Maryland were injured in an accident with a car, truck, bus or other vehicle, and many of these accidents occurred in parking lots and parking garages.

If you were hit by a driver in a parking lot a personal injury lawyer may be able to recover damages by proving that the person who hit you was operating their vehicle negligently. There are a variety of ways to prove someone else was negligent including deposing witnesses, subpoenaing parking lot surveillance video from the store or business and consulting with an accident re-creation expert. Most shopping centers and office parks have cameras that record 24 hours a day, and it is important to retain a lawyer soon after the accident so they can make sure the video evidence is preserved. Whether the negligent driver backed into you, ran into you while parking or turning, or simply was driving too fast to stop, it is always a stronger case when there is video evidence.

Once a lawyer proves the other party was at fault then the amount of damages must be established in order to recover. Damages can come in a variety of forms including loss wages, medical bills and pain and suffering. Parking lot accidents can cause major injures that may require surgery and other expensive medical procedures. The negligent person must be held responsible to pay for these expenses plus the pain and suffering they caused, and an aggressive and experienced Maryland accident lawyer like Benjamin Herbst will make sure this happens. Call 410-207-2598 to speak with Benjamin anytime about your case.