Camden County Parking Lot Accident Lawyer

People may not initially consider parking lots to be terribly dangerous areas since driving speeds are typically slow. Yet not every vehicle obeys the speed limit, and the close quarters, as well as the mix of cars and pedestrians, means that accidents are common.

Fortunately, the civil courts provide auto accident victims with a way to recoup their losses from responsible parties. Even small incidents may justify filing a claim for damages. A Camden County parking lot accident lawyer could help you gather the necessary information to file a claim for recoverable losses.

What Differentiates Parking Lot Accidents from Those that Take Place on the Street?

The major difference between a parking lot accident and one that occurs on a roadway is the severity of the crash. Cars in parking lots are typically driving at much slower speeds, and there are often posted speed limits. A lot of collisions involve a vehicle backing out of a parking space and getting hit in the rear side. Parking lots also see pedestrian collisions, where cars strike pedestrians crossing the road.

Hit-and-runs occur when someone backs into another vehicle and leaves the scene without exchanging information. Slip-and-falls and general premises accidents are also common occurrences in parking lots when the owners are not properly taking care of the facility by removing snow or ice. A local attorney could analyze the facts surrounding a parking lot accident to determine who is liable for an injured person’s losses.

What to Do after a Crash

Anyone involved in a parking lot accident should call the police to report it. Even if the collision takes place on private property, the police have jurisdiction to respond to the call. In some instances, however, the police cannot write a ticket to the at-fault driver when the accident occurred in a private parking lot.

When a person is involved in a collision in a private parking lot, he or she should also immediately report it to the owner, ask them to save any and all videos from the time of the accident, and fill out an incident report.

How Do Insurance Companies Treat Parking Lot Collisions?

Insurance companies should treat parking lot collisions the same way as those which occur on local roads. However, if a pedestrian injured in a parking lot does not have any insurance, then that will add an extra layer of difficulty to his or her case.

In these cases, the insurance company for the parking lot may be involved. There are usually extra layers of complicated insurance issues involved in a collision, accident, or incident within a private parking lot which a Camden County lawyer could help untangle.

Role of Contributory Negligence

New Jersey is a contributory negligence state, meaning if a person’s actions contribute in any way to the accident, a jury is allowed to assign a certain percentage of fault to him or her. For example, if there is a rear-end case and a jury finds that both cars involved caused the accident equally, they will assign 50 percent of the fault to each party. That would then decrease the claimant’s damage award by 50 percent. A Camden County parking lot accident attorney could help an injured person recover a fair amount of compensation by establishing the proper degree of fault in his or her case.

Hire a Quality Camden County Parking Lot Accident Attorney

When an individual is involved in a parking lot accident injury, he or she should look for an attorney who is experienced in personal injury cases involving auto accidents in parking lots and who is willing to go out and investigate the scene immediately. If you were injured in a collision, a Camden County parking lot accident lawyer is standing by to discuss your case. Call now to see how they could be of assistance.