Who is Responsible For an Accident In a Parking Lot
Reader’s Question:
I heard that if you are in a parking lot accident each person is responsible for their own vehicle repairs, is that true?
Johann
Shreveport, LA
It depends on the details of the accident and if there is a clear cut driver at fault or not. As with most of parking lot accidents it will be up to state negligence laws and an investigation from the insurance companies involved in determining whose fault was the accident. If the insurance companies involved found that each party has 50 percent to blame for the accident, then it may be that each party will end up taking car of their own damages.
Louisiana is known as a comparative negligence state which means a driver can be anywhere within zero to 100 percent at fault in an accident. The Department of Insurance for Louisiana site states that procedures for parking lot accidents may differ somewhat from place to place, but generally speaking, the law enforcement agency with authority in the area where the parking lot is located will respond when you have an accident, even if it is on private property.
A parking lot in Shreveport, Louisiana, as in any place else you operate your automobile, all the usual rules regarding insurance do apply, and most of them are just good common sense. If a driver is backing out a space in a private lot and collides with another car that has the right of way, the first driver is at fault.
However, if both you and the other driver are backing out of parking spaces or cutting across an empty parking space when you collide, both may be considered at fault. Typically, you must be at least 50 percent at fault for your liability to pay the costs. This means that in many parking lot incidents, neither person’s policy will pay for damage to the other vehicle because the drivers share the liability.
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