Parking Lot Accident Lawsuit in California
Motor vehicle accidents normally occur on public highways, most often due to excessive speed or ignoring traffic signals. The law for monetary recoveries from such highway accidents is clear: prove the driver's fault or negligence, and state-mandated motor vehicle insurance will provide recovery.

Our personal injury lawyers, with their extensive experience, represent many seriously injured clients in recovering for them the full value of their motor vehicle accident claims.
For a motor vehicle accident to occur, one, above all, needs an impact. An impact requires the proximity of vehicle-to-vehicle or vehicle-to-pedestrian.
Nowhere are vehicles more closely packed with one another and pedestrians, and nowhere are drivers more distracted than in parking lots.
Surprisingly, statistics from the Insurance Institute reveal that approximately one in five motor-vehicle accidents occur not on public highways, but in parking lots.
The National Safety Council reports that tens of thousands of injuries and hundreds of deaths occur annually in the U.S. in parking lots and garage structures.
Negligence in Parking Lot Accidents
While parking lot speeds are not high, distractions are everywhere. A recent National Safety Council poll showed that two-thirds of drivers would make:
- phone calls,
- set GPS,
- dial-up digital music,
- text,
- check alerts,
- review social media, and
- read or draft emails using their cell phones.
All of these activities occur while they are driving in parking lots. Nearly half will also shoot photos or videos, surf the internet, and video chat from their cell phones while driving in parking lots, groom, watch television or movies, and use a laptop or tablet again while driving in parking lots. We are a distracted nation.
When poorly designed or maintained, parking lots can also cause or contribute to serious personal injuries from slips and falls. Another National Safety Council report shows that about one-third of all injuries come from falls and that falling is a leading cause of death among the elderly.
More than three million persons visit emergency rooms every year because of falls, and 800,000 require hospitalization annually. The same report reveals that the leading causes of fall hospitalizations are head injury and hip fracture.
Potholes, cracks, puddles, debris, water or other liquids, and snow or ice in parking lots can all contribute to falls that cause serious injury.
What Must You Show for Recovery in a Parking Lot Injury?
To recover from a parking lot injury takes more than merely showing the injury. Motor vehicle and parking lot owners are not guarantors of occupant and pedestrian safety. They do not ensure occupant and pedestrian health.
Instead, the law generally requires claimants to prove fault, also called negligence or carelessness, to recover money from another for injury. No fault, no recovery. Claimants who contact liability insurers independently, without the representation of a personal injury attorney, quickly find out that insurers don't hand out money like candy.
Insurers pay full claim value only when the claimant's lawyer shows a compelling case for the insured's fault. We all have opinions about what others should do to be reasonably careful about our safety. But proving fault is more than a matter of opinion.
Proving fault requires gathering evidence that the insured defendant violated an established standard of care. Gathering evidence and articulating the legal standard is the work of a lawyer, not an unrepresented claimant.
Our personal injury law firm knows how to investigate, prepare, and pursue parking lot claims to recover full value for their clients, proving fault such as:
- cutting across parking spots;
- speeding;
- failing to use directional signals;
- failing to use headlights;
- disregarding stop signs and pedestrian crossings;
- distracted driving;
- failure to turn around or use mirrors when backing;
- blind spots from walls and pillars;
- inadequate parking-lot striping;
- parking-lot potholes, cracks, or debris; and
- water, oil, other liquids, snow, or ice.
Compensation from a Parking Lot Accident
The first step in pursuing a monetary recovery from an injury caused by another in a parking lot is to consult with experienced personal injury counsel. When a client retains a lawyer, they show the defendant's insurer that they intend to recover the full value of their claim, ensuring their rights are protected.
Insurers do not pay full claim value to unrepresented claimants. Still, instead discount unrepresented persons' claims heavily, knowing the unrepresented claimant lacks the knowledge, skill, and experience to prove the claim and its value. Our personal injury lawyers have the skill and experience to gather quickly and expertly interpret:
- accident reports,
- vehicle maintenance and repair records,
- witness statements,
- medical and wage-loss records,
- Vehicle registration information,
- driving histories and other documentation insurers require before paying claims.
Litigation of personal injury claims
In addition to evaluating all the relevant information of the parking lot injury case, we will also expertly:
- litigate parking lot and other personal injury claims,
- draft and file the court complaint,
- obtain the summons,
- draft and serve discovery requests,
- take depositions,
- draft and advocate for and against court motions,
- prepare mediation and case-evaluation presentations,
- attending court conferences and hearings or trials and
- negotiating the settlement of the case while knowing its full value.
Our California personal injury lawyers will investigate, evaluate, prepare, and present your personal injury claim with no fee until you recover. No recovery, no fee. We are a top 2.5% Super Lawyers firm that you can trust to prepare your case to recover its full value fully.