Parking Lot Negligence

Typically, parking lots are considered private property, and the responsibility for maintaining and keeping parking lots in proper condition falls on the owner. Tripping hazards are just one potential source of danger that can arise in parking lots and lead to harmful accidents. The property owners for the parking lots have a responsibility to make sure that hazards are either repaired or that people walking and driving in the parking lot area are warned about these conditions. The following are examples of premises liability cases we have handled that relate to dangerous parking lot conditions in Kentucky and Indiana:

1. Yvonne W., a court reporter from Louisville, Kentucky appeared at an office park in Jefferson County, Kentucky for a court reporting deposition job. It was around noon, and she parked in front of the building where the deposition was to occur. When she exited her car and took a couple steps forward, her ankle became twisted in a spot where a chunk of pavement was missing in the parking lot. This caused her body and right ankle to twist and for her to fall down. She was able to hobble across the parking lot and into the building. Upon arriving at the emergency room, she was diagnosed with a broken left ankle. This case was settled by Zurich Insurance Company, the insurance carrier for the office park that owned the parking lot, prior to the lawsuit being filed in Louisville, Kentucky.
2. Marilyn H. worked as a correctional officer in Casey County, Kentucky was injured in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart store in Danville, Kentucky when she tripped over the cart return in the parking lot area. The strips leading up to the cart return had buckled and were a couple inches off of the ground. As the woman was making her way to enter the Wal-Mart store, she tripped over the buckled cart return, falling, and broke both of her arms. The insurance carrier for Wal-Mart denied any responsibility for the woman’s fall. Shortly after the lawsuit was filed in Boyle County, Kentucky, the case was settled.
3. Else M., a Louisville, Kentucky woman involved in sales was injured due to a hazardous condition at a car wash. While she was in the process of washing her car inside one of the car wash bays, she fell into an opening in the ground inside the bay area. A grate in the drainage area of the car wash had been removed or broken off. When her right leg from the knee down was submerged in the drainage area, she suffered an injury to her lower leg. Another customer nearby was able to help her get out of this area. She sought treatment for injury to her right leg, right knee, and right foot as well as to her fingers and hands that suffered bruising in the fall. She was in an air cast for a couple weeks after the fall. The insurance company for the car wash company settled the claim without a lawsuit having to be filed in Jefferson County, Kentucky.