There is a part of hustle and haste during this period of the year. In reality, several people are rushing about from one location to another during their holiday time. Both this involves much time in the car and travelling time through overcrowded parking lots.
If you ever drove in a crowded parking lot during December, you recognize the kind of challenges you are dealing with, such as short tempers and rush-hour traffic. For such a scenario, parking lot collisions are a possibility.
Determining whom to blame in parking lot accidents
Having liability for a parking lot collision relies on whether all vehicles were driving at the moment and which vehicle has the right-of-way. Trying to determine whom to blame in a parking lot crash usually is reasonably straightforward if there was just one car being driven at the scene. The car driver who was in driving is generally considered guilty as long as the other car was lawfully parked or halted. For instance, if a car drives into the rear of a parked car at a road sign in a parking garage, the driver will be held responsible.
Who had the right of way?
Right-of-way is another essential consideration influencing the responsibility of the accident. Generally, the right-of-way person would not fault unless they commit any severe crime while speeding. Although several larger parking spaces have fixed speed limits, it is better to keep the speed limit within 15 mph in case of confusion.
Those vehicles in thoroughfare lanes could yield to those in feeder lanes. These are the major highways that lead to a driveway. Any feeder lanes start and finish at a through street and bring vehicles to parking spaces.
Liability for injuries in Typical Parking Garage Accident situations
Here are some widespread accidents which happen in parking lots, and who is likely to be blamed.
- When both cars are pulling out from the parking place simultaneously, neither is technically correct. They will both certainly get into accidents, and both are to be blamed for it.
- When a driver gets out of a parking garage hits a moving vehicle in a traffic path, the driver within the traffic path has the right-of-way. The driver pulling out will be blamed for the accident in this case.
- When a driver moves forward out of parking and hits a moving car in a traffic path, the driver within the traffic path has the right-of-way. Since both the cars were moving, the drivers may share the blame, though the driver who was driving out of the parking should be blamed more.
- When two drivers are attempting to catch a parking space and collide, the driver who did not turn over the traffic path has the right-of-way. Since both vehicles were moving, the drivers seem to share the risk, but the driver who turned and cleared out over traffic should be held responsible.
Hopefully, these situations tend to resolve the uncertainty around right-of-way in parking areas. Drivers must remember to drive slowly and cautiously in crowded streets or parking lots during this holiday season. On the off chance that an accident has taken place and no one was wounded, you will likely be able to work it out along with your insurance company. Nevertheless, if the insurance company starts being unreasonable in case of physical injury, then the right step would be to get ideas from an attorney
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