Parking Lot Accident: Who Is at Fault and How Claims Work

Parking lots are private property, and in many states traffic statutes do not apply there in the same way they do on public roads, so a police officer may not issue a citation. Insurers nonetheless decide fault, and they do so with rules drawn from ordinary negligence and the customary right of way in lots. The rules are consistent across insurers because the same situations recur thousands of times a day.

A car leaving a parking space, forward or backing, yields to cars in the lane. A car in a feeder lane, the short lanes between rows of spaces, yields to a car in the main through lane that circles the lot or leads to the exit. A car turning into a space yields to a car already proceeding in the lane. A car moving yields to a car that is stopped. A driver who opens a door into a passing car is at fault. Pedestrians have the right of way nearly everywhere in a lot, and drivers must look for them before moving and especially before reversing.

Speed matters even at low speeds. A car traveling fast through a lot, cutting across rows rather than following the lanes, or passing a car that is backing out, shares fault even when the other driver violated a right-of-way rule, and insurers assign percentages on that basis.

Two cars backing out of opposite spaces at the same time and striking each other is the classic parking lot crash, and insurers usually split fault evenly, because each driver had the same duty to look and neither can prove the other started first. Camera footage showing one car was nearly fully out of its space when the other began reversing changes the split, and sometimes reverses it. Without footage, expect 50/50.

A car backing out and striking a car passing in the lane is usually the backing driver's fault, because the lane car had the right of way. The backing driver's defense is that the passing car was speeding or appeared suddenly, and a fast lane car can be assigned a share, but the presumption runs against the backing driver. The same applies to a car pulling forward out of a space into a passing car.

A collision at the intersection of a feeder lane and the through lane is usually the feeder-lane driver's fault. A collision between two cars entering the same space from opposite directions is argued on who arrived first and who was already turning. A car struck while parked is entirely the moving driver's fault, and a driver who hits a parked car and leaves has committed a hit and run under most states' laws even on private property.

Suppose you were walking from a store to your car when a driver reversing out of a space struck you, knocking you down and fracturing your wrist. The driver said she looked and did not see you. The store's lot camera showed you walking in the lane behind her car for three seconds before she began reversing, with her backup lights coming on after you were already behind her.

Medical bills were $9,800, and you missed two weeks of work. The driver's insurer initially suggested you had walked into her path, and asked for a recorded statement. The footage, obtained by a request to the store's manager the same day and preserved by letter, showed otherwise, and the insurer accepted fault.

The injury claim settled after treatment for the medical bills, the lost wages and the fracture, at $24,000. Had the footage been overwritten, the claim would have been your account against hers, and the insurer would have assigned you a share for walking behind a car. All figures are hypothetical; the importance of the camera is not.

Police often do not come, so the drivers create the record themselves.

• Call the police anyway; some departments respond to lot crashes, and a report, even an exchange-of-information report, is useful.
• Photograph both vehicles in their positions before they move, the damage to each, the space and lane markings, and any signage or stop signs in the lot.
• Exchange names, phone numbers, insurance information and plate numbers; photograph the other driver's license and insurance card.
• Go into the store or business immediately and ask the manager to preserve the lot's camera footage; many systems overwrite within days.
• Get names of witnesses, including store employees who may have seen it.
• Get medical care if you are hurt at all; low-speed crashes cause real injuries, and a same-day visit documents it.
• Report to your own insurer and give a plain account; do not agree with the other driver about fault at the scene.

Whether traffic statutes apply in private parking lots varies: some states extend their rules of the road to lots open to the public; others do not, so no citation issues and fault is decided purely on negligence principles. In either case the insurers apply the same right-of-way customs. Hit and run statutes apply to private property in most states, and a driver who hits a parked car and leaves without leaving a note commits an offense.

Comparative negligence governs the split: pure comparative in California, New York, Arizona, Missouri and others, reducing each driver's recovery by their share; a 51 percent bar in Texas, Illinois, Florida and most states; a 50 percent bar in Georgia and Tennessee, where a 50/50 finding means neither driver recovers; and contributory negligence in Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia, where any fault bars recovery, which makes the 50/50 backing crash a no-recovery crash for both. In no-fault states, injuries in a lot crash are handled under PIP like any other.

Property damage for a lot crash is paid by the at-fault driver's liability insurer or your own collision coverage, and a 50/50 split means each insurer pays half of the other's damage, less deductibles, with the insurers often arbitrating between themselves. Deadlines are the state's injury statute, one year in Tennessee and Kentucky, two in Texas, California, Florida and Georgia, three in New York and North Carolina.

Most lot crashes are property damage, but injuries occur, and pedestrians are the main victims: struck by backing cars, by drivers cutting across rows, and by drivers watching for spaces rather than people. Children and older adults are disproportionately hurt. Backup cameras and sensors have reduced but not eliminated backing injuries, and a driver who relied on a camera without looking is still at fault.

Occupant injuries in lot crashes are usually minor but real, and low-speed rear-end and side impacts cause neck and back injuries that insurers dispute because of the low speed. The claim is proven the same way as any injury claim, by prompt treatment and documentation, and the low speed is answered by the medical records.

Property owners can also be responsible for lot injuries from poor design, missing stop signs, inadequate lighting, potholes and ice, under premises liability principles, which is a separate claim from the one against the other driver.

A parking lot claim is decided by right-of-way customs, the drivers' own record of the scene, and whether the lot's camera footage was preserved, and for injuries, by prompt treatment. The questions to answer early are what the footage shows, what fault the other driver's insurer is assigning and why, and what the state's rule does with a shared-fault finding. Most personal injury attorneys work on contingency.

Ask Legal Matters is a free claim-review request service, not a law firm. Requests may be shared with independent attorneys and legal services partners who handle inquiries in your state, and an attorney must evaluate the facts before anyone can say what the claim is worth. If you were hurt in a parking lot crash, you can request a free claim review.

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