California is an at-fault state. Does that mean parking lot accidents that take place in San Diego and other California cities are at-fault? Yes. If a driver hits another person or their car in a parking lot, the acting driver tends to assume responsibility for the injured person’s losses.
Not every acting driver accepts the blame for the parking lot accidents they cause, though. Some drivers may even try to flee the scene of an accident to avoid assuming liability. What can you do if you find yourself struggling to get the compensation you deserve from an at-fault driver after a parking lot accident? Gomez Trial Attorneys can work with you to bring the offending driver to civil court.
What “Fault” Means in California
California is a “tort,” or at-fault, state. This means that the state can assign responsibility for a car accident to a single person or party. The state is not obligated to divide accident fault between the acting party and their victims.
What does this mean for you after a parking lot accident? If you caught the person responsible for your accident, you have the right to file a lawsuit against them. Your lawsuit can demand the damages you need to pay for vehicular repairs or injury treatments. In some cases, you may even have the right to request compensation for non-economic losses like stress or pain and suffering.
What To Do After a Parking Lot Accident
How do you recover from a parking lot accident? First and foremost, make sure you and the people with you, if you have any, aren’t severely injured. If you’re safe to remain at the scene, get the at-fault driver’s contact information and insurance policy number. You should also take the time to document your losses so you can accurately describe them in conversations with insurance claims adjusters and personal injury lawyers.
Note: you should never try to pursue a driver if they flee from the scene of your parking lot accident. Pursuing an at-fault driver can put you in a dangerous situation. If the driver responsible for your parking lot accident flees the scene, call the police and try to get a picture of the fleeing vehicle’s license plate number. Officers can pursue the liable party while you focus on treating any injuries you sustained.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do California Civil Courts Classify Parking Lot Accidents?
If an at-fault driver hits you or another person walking in a parking lot, California courts may classify that accident as a pedestrian accident. If an at-fault driver hits your car, California courts may classify the accident as a car accident.
Will an At-Fault Driver Face Criminal Charges?
The state of California may charge a liable party with a crime, but you can’t. You can only take action against a liable driver in civil court.
If the state of California convicts a liable driver of criminal roadway misconduct, though, take note. You can work information about that conviction into your civil claim to prove that a liable party owes you damages.
How Do You Assign Blame for a Parking Lot Accident?
You may feel like it’s obvious who’s at fault for your parking lot accident in the immediate aftermath of your collision. If you want to take legal action against the acting party, though, you still need to meet California’s burden of proof. This means that you must bring forward evidence proving that:
- The person driving the at-fault car owed you a duty of care
- The person driving the at-fault car behaved negligently behind the wheel
- That negligence caused your accident and violated the duty owed to you
- The acting party’s behavior caused your economic strain
If you want to make these points, you need evidence. The evidence you bring forward to prove your right to accident compensation can include video footage of the accident from security cameras, a dash cam, or a bystander’s phone. You can also use before and after pictures to go into more detail about the damage done to your car, passengers, or person.
An experienced San Diego car accident lawyer can also reach out to their professional network on your behalf. That effort can bring expert witnesses onto your case. Expert witnesses, including accident recreationists, can contribute expertise to your case as they assess the severity of your losses and the nature of your accident.
What Compensation Can You Get From a Parking Lot Accident Claim?
If you bring a parking lot accident claim forward against a negligent driver, you can demand financial support based on the losses you endured in your accident. That support gets referred to as “damages” in a legal setting. The damages you receive from a parking lot accident claim can help you pay your accident-related bills.
What losses can you refer to when demanding compensation, though? You have the right to include economic and non-economic losses in your request so long as you have the evidence you need to tie those losses back to your accident. Some examples of the losses you can include in your claim include the following:
- Vehicular repairs
- Vehicle rentals
- Wages lost while you’re out of work
- The cost of emergency care, if needed
- The cost of physical therapy and other medical treatments
- Emotional distress related to your crash
- Pain and suffering related to your crash
- Stress related to the crash and your recovery
Our San Diego personal injury attorneys can help you document your accident losses, find the value of those losses, and include those losses in your final claim.
When Should You Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer in San Diego?
The sooner you can contact a San Diego car accident lawyer after a parking lot accident, the sooner you can file a personal injury claim with California’s civil courts. Filing a claim within a few weeks of your accident can streamline the timeline on which your case progresses. This means you may receive the money you need to pay your bills within a few months of your accident.
You’re also working against the clock when filing a car accident claim. California Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 allows the victims involved in parking lot accidents to take up to two years to find all of the data necessary to meet or exceed California’s burden of proof.
You need to file your personal injury claim before your two years run out, or else California judges may not let you seek compensation through the court system. Gomez Trial Attorneys has worked against California’s personal injury statute of limitations before and knows how to optimize your time so you can build a strong complaint.
You can learn more about the methods we use to compose our auto accident claims during a case evaluation with our legal team.
Schedule a Free Parking Lot Case Evaluation Today
Gomez Trial Attorneys specializes in helping California residents overcome the financial difficulties that come with today’s auto accident. If someone else hits you or your car in a parking lot, your losses may make it impossible for you to get to and from work. You may also suffer serious injuries.
Don’t resign yourself to paying your accident’s bills alone. For help recovering from a parking lot accident, contact Gomez Trial Attorneys by calling 866-TRIAL LAW (866-874-2552) or reaching out online. Our personal injury attorneys in San Diego can walk you through the process of filing a car accident claim with California’s civil courts. We can go on to represent your best interests in and out of court. Get in touch today!