The other day I pulled into a car park where the ground was covered in leaves – it had been raining the previous day which made the ground extra slippery. Luckily, I spotted the leaves in time and managed to stop without skidding. I couldn’t help but think what would have happened if I didn’t see the leaves and then I skidded on them causing me to crash into another vehicle.
A slightly drastic thought I know; but things like this do happen, especially to those that least expect it to. Would it be the venue that owns the car park who was liable for any damage caused? Or would it be the drivers fault for failing to spot the hazard?
When we visit a venue they are expected to show us a duty of care upon our visit, which means keeping all hazards to a minimum when we are on their site. If they own the car park then they are expected to be responsible for making sure it is hazard free.
We would need to look at the area where the accident took place, and the speed the driver was travelling at the time of the accident. A lot of public car parks have a maximum speed of either 5 or 10mph. If the driver exceeded this speed limit they may find themselves partly responsible for the accident.
They may also look at the venues historic health and safety records, and look at when they last carried out their checks on the car park, or when they last cleaned it for litter such as leaves. A lot of venues now have CCTV around their car park so footage of this nature can be acquired.
Hopefully accidents like this are kept to a minimum and it’s just my brain working overload. However, you can never be too safe, and it’s best to know what to do in the instance of such an accident.
As with any car accident, you should take the details of the other party, if any other vehicles were involved. You should also alert the staff of the venue about the accident, along with alerting your insurance company or a law firm. It is also a good idea to seek medical attention after any accident.
For more information on car park accidents or if you would like to make an injury compensation claim, contact the Injury Lawyers.
