Because cars are traveling at low speeds in parking lots, any collision might seem minor. After all, how badly can you be hurt when struck by a car going only 5-10 miles an hour?
As it turns out, many people suffer serious injuries in low-speed collisions. Injured occupants often require expensive medical care, which they cannot afford. Their pain might be serious enough that they must miss work and as a result cannot pay their mortgage and face possible foreclosure.
Contact aBurlington, VT car accident lawyer at Larson & Gallivan Law to discuss your case. You might have the legal right to seek financial compensation from the person liable for your parking lot accident. We can review relevant insurance policies and identify the right way to submit claims to maximize your compensation.
Injuries from Parking Lot Accidents
Even a low-speed crash can lead to significant injuries:
- Whiplash. A motorist’s head can whip forward and backwards, causing neck pain and stiffness.
- Pinched nerves. Any type of “jolt” to the body can pinch a nerve, especially in the back. This is a painful injury which can sideline someone for weeks.
- Facial injury. A passenger can slam their face on the dashboard, leading to a broken nose, orbital fracture, or other facial injury. Other facial injuries are caused when an airbag deploys too forcefully, or if it ejects pieces of metal or plastic.
- Concussion. A motorist might struggle with concussion symptoms after an accident.
- Back injuries. The spine can twist in a low-speed accident, often damaging the discs between vertebrae or spraining the back.
- Contusions. These are deep bruises which can cause complications if not watched carefully.
Some people feel “okay-ish” after an accident, only to wake up the next morning with a massive headache or immobile neck. Go back to the hospital to address any new symptoms.
Liability for a Parking Lot Accident
Who is responsible for a parking lot crash? The legal analysis looks at whether either driver failed to use reasonable care. Some situations which lead to accidents:
- Failure to yield. Drivers must follow the rules regarding the right of way. A car backing up must yield to vehicles already in the aisle. Similarly, a motorist in a parking lane must yield to those on the main aisle.
- Backing up without using mirrors. A driver might throw their car into reverse and hit the gas without any concern for whether there is a car behind them. This can lead to a collision.
- Cutting someone off. A motorist might cut off another car, especially if they are fighting over a parking spot.
- Illegal backing up. A car should not back up in the aisle so that it can try to get an open parking spot. That’s a good way to back into another car.
- Speeding. Motorists need to drive slower in a parking lot. Other drivers are not expecting someone to race through at 25 miles per hour.
- Cell phone usage. As they enter a parking lot, some drivers whip out their phone to check their messages before they are fully parked. This distraction can obviously lead to a preventable accident.
Each case is fact specific. The examples above are situations where one motorist failed to use reasonable care and caused an accident. Call our office so we can gather more information as part of our legal analysis.
What to Do After a Parking Lot Collision
Here are steps to take to strengthen your claim:
- Stop your vehicle. You don’t want to commit a hit and run, which is a crime in Vermont.
- Call the police. You should report any collision in a parking lot to the police. In Vermont, drivers must report accidents. An officer can also generate a crash report.
- Swap information with the other driver. You can share your license, registration, and insurance information. Request the same from the other driver and get personal details, such as where they live and their phone number.
- Speak with witnesses to the crash. Ask for a way to contact them in the future.
- Photograph the vehicles. Using your phone, photograph how the cars are immediately after the crash.
- Visit the hospital for medical care. You should go as soon as you finish at the scene.
These steps will provide the factual basis for a claim. You should never leave the scene without taking these steps.
How Larson & Gallivan Law Can Help You
Some motorists involved in parking lot accidents try to negotiate their own claim. That is a good way of ending up with little compensation for your injuries. Reach out to our office today to schedule a consultation so we can fully review how much you can fairly demand.
Our lawyers know how to submit an accident claim to an insurance company. The at-fault motorist should be responsible for paying compensation to anyone injured. If you call our office, we can help with an injury claim for compensation:
- Gather evidence and synthesize it to understand what happened. We need to identify who is at fault for your parking lot accident. We might interview witnesses or visit the store to see if they had a security camera pointed at the parking lot. (Many of them do.) We rely on this evidence to assemble how the accident unfolded.
- Analyze your medical records to comprehend your injuries. The severity of injuries is a major factor in the value of a case. We can use this evidence to argue you are seriously hurt and deserve serious compensation for pain and suffering.
- Negotiate with insurance companies. Our objective is to obtain compensation for your damages, including medical bills and mental anguish. Insurance companies are expert negotiators, and you need a seasoned negotiator on your team.
- Mediate with the insurance companies, if necessary, to help us resolve the legal dispute. Mediation can often help us resolve disputes over damages or fault.
- Litigate, including filing a lawsuit before the statute of limitations expires.
If you were injured while working, we can seek workers’ compensation benefits for your car accident. Otherwise, we negotiate a settlement for a personal injury case.
Need Help? Contact Our Burlington, VT Car Accident Lawyer
Larson & Gallivan Law is the firm to contact. We are a team of experienced legal professionals. We have obtained large settlement agreements for many of our clients, and we provide free consultations to anyone hurt in a Vermont car accident.
