Parking lots are some of the most popular places for car wrecks, accounting for about 20 percent of all vehicle accidents, especially during busy holiday seasons. We’re rushed, we need to get into a store and out, and then – Wham! An accident occurs.
Scan your surroundings.
It’s easy to be distracted by phones, kids or pets while hurriedly entering a parking lot. Don’t! Keep your eyes focused upon what’s further ahead, and let peripheral vision scan what’s near the vehicle.
Check for places with forward spaces.
Driving Dynamics found that ‘pull-through parking’, or parking in a space and then pulling forward into the empty space in front, resulted in a 96 percent reduction in a utility company’s back-up accident rates in a 15 month period.
Choose a parking space on the edge of the lot.
Not only is a short walk to the shop beneficial, but parking where there are fewer cars and foot traffic can avoid an accident. People who circle the lot in an attempt to get as close as possible to the building are coming as close as possible to all the parking lot congestion.
Take a quick trip around your vehicle before you hop in.
Accidentally backing into a pole or shopping cart can put the kabash on holiday fun. Rear-end collisions with unexpected obstacles can cause costly, unsightly dents and scratches.
Be aware of distracted people stepping out behind your vehicle.
How dangerous can parking lots be? Five hundred deaths per year occur to drivers and pedestrians in parking lots. Apparently, low speeds don’t make parking lots safe. Distracted walking, particularly texting or watching a phone video, can result in being backed over by a driver who never realized you were there.
Watch it when opening car doors.
if you open your car door without looking and a passing driver hits it, you will probably take the financial hit for the collision. If the strike came unexpectedly from a distant car, then the driver was not proceeding with ‘due care and caution’ and may be to blame.
Parking lots are tricky.
Tennessee parking lots can be tricky territory to assess blame. That is because most parking lots are privately owned, and they fall under private property driving laws. That means the state of Tennessee leaves it to you and the other driver to sit down and determine fault if no injuries were incurred and no one committed a crime.
Working out who’s at fault can be tricky, as well.
In any case of vehicular accident, a police report is a good idea, because it documents the drivers, their insurances and their descriptions as to how the accident occurred. Injuries from even a slight accident may show up days after the event, and unseen damage to vehicles may prove costly. Documentation is needed to verify what actually happened, not hearsay.
A personal injury lawyer can give vital assistance in cases of contested liability in parking lots.
