Who Is Legally Responsible When A Pedestrian Gets Hit By A Car In A Parking Lot?

When one vehicle strikes another, the structure of the vehicles offers protection, as do seatbelts and airbags.  Therefore, it is often possible to avoid serious injury if the drivers are obeying the speed limit and if all of the occupants of the vehicles are wearing seatbelts and any children in the vehicles are in age-appropriate safety seats.  When a car strikes a pedestrian, however, the pedestrian has no such protections.  Therefore, severe and even catastrophic injuries are possible in pedestrian accidents, even if the car was traveling at a slow speed at the time of the collision.  If you suffered serious injuries after getting hit by a car when you were a pedestrian, contact a Columbia car accident lawyer.

Child Struck by Car in Parking Lot of Preschool

In February 2023, a mother parked her car in the parking lot of a preschool in Anderson County, South Carolina to drop her three-year-old daughter off at the preschool in the morning.  After the mother took the child out of the car seat, the child ran into the roadway of the parking lot, where a car struck her.  Paramedics arrived at the scene, where they attempted to resuscitate the child, who was then transported by ambulance to the hospital.  She died of her injuries at the hospital later that day.  The cause of death was ruled as traumatic brain injury.

South Carolina Premises Liability Laws

When preventable accidents occur on private property, including places of businesses, premises liability laws can apply.  The legal doctrine of premises liability holds that the owners of private property are legally responsible for keeping the premises in a safe condition so that they do not expose visitors to a high risk of injury when the visitors are on the property for a legitimate purpose.  The standards for protecting business invitees (such as customers at a store or students at a private preschool) from preventable injury are very high.  Premises liability laws also apply in the case of accidents that happen at social gatherings at private residences, but the standards are not as high, because receiving visitors is not the primary purpose of a residence.

A business invitee who gets injured in a preventable accident at a place of business has the right to file a premises liability lawsuit against the owner of the business.  To win a premises liability lawsuit, you must prove that the business owner failed to take an action that would have prevented the accident.  A classic example involves slip and fall accidents on the floors of supermarkets and retail stores; in many cases, the accidents could have been prevented if the store employees had frequently walked up and down all of the aisles of the store to check for spills.

Let Us Help You Today

The personal injury lawyers at the Stanley Law Group can help you if you suffered serious injuries in an accident in the parking lot of a place of business.  Contact The Stanley Law Group in Columbia, South Carolina or call (803)799-4700 for a free initial consultation.

Source:

wyff4.com/article/south-carolina-child-dies-preschool-parking-lot/42911796