When most people think of car accidents, they typically think of collisions between one or more vehicles on a road or highway. But there are some factors that can sometimes make low-speed car accidents in parking lots and parking garages even more deadly than crashes on the road.
Unlike a collision between two or more drivers, parking lot accidents often involve a car hitting a pedestrian on foot. This is because, unlike roads, parking lots are a shared space where pedestrians and vehicles travel in the same space.
Without a vehicle frame, seat belts and airbags to protect them, a pedestrian can suffer serious injuries if a car hits them even at very low speeds. Even a slow-moving vehicle can knock over a pedestrian, run them over or pin them against other cars.
One of the leading causes of parking lot accidents involves cell phone use. The slow speeds at which drivers travel through parking lots gives them a false sense of security, and they often feel that they can use their cell phone without much danger. Pedestrians, too, often walk through parking lots without paying attention. This combination leads to all sorts of tragic accidents.
Drivers can sometimes become confused as to the direction they’re supposed to go, and go the wrong way down one-way parking lot lanes. Often, drivers are confused as to right-of-way rules in parking lots, and may back out instead of letting moving cars behind them pass by first. The danger is compounded when drivers go above safe speeds through parking lots, since they’re less prepared to stop if a pedestrian steps out from between cars or a car backs out in front of them.
Even though parking lots are a dangerous place to walk though on foot or drive through, that doesn’t take negligent or careless drivers off the hook. If you suffer an accident in a parking lot or parking garage, you have the right to seek compensation for your injuries and property damage.
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