Can You Sue for Damages After a Parking Lot Injury?
Parking lots and parking garages can be dangerous places for pedestrians. Often, they’re poorly maintained, with broken concrete, asphalt, curbs, or walkways, or they have oil, water, ice, or other slippery substances that make navigating them treacherous.
Can you bring a legal action to recover damages for injuries sustained on poorly maintained or constructed parking lots? What must you show to recover compensation for your injuries?
Texas Premises Liability Law
In Texas, as in all other states, a claim for injuries sustained in a slip and fall (also known as a “premises liability” claim) will almost always be based on a legal claim of negligence. To recover compensation through a negligence claim, an injured person must show that the defendant (person from whom compensation is sought) had a legal duty to the injured person and failed to fulfill that duty, causing the accident which led to the injuries sustained.
So what is the duty in a premises liability claim? In Texas, as in the rest of the country, the owner or person in control of residential or commercial property is legally bound to take reasonable steps to monitor and maintain that property so as to prevent injury to certain people who come on the property. The duty varies based on the legal status of the visitor:
- Licensees – A licensee is anyone who enters onto property with permission and for their own benefit. Examples include social guests, salespeople, or persons entering space open to the public. The owner must either remedy the danger or reasonably warn visitors of the potential hazard but only with respect to conditions known to the owner that are not obvious to visitors. With respect to licensees, the owner has no duty to inspect the premises for dangerous conditions.
- Invitees – An invitee is a person who, for mutual benefit, comes onto property with the permission and knowledge of the owner or person in control of the property. Ordinary customers of a business are considered to be invitees, whether they purchase goods or services or not. The owner or person in control of the property owes invitees the highest degree of care and must either reasonably warn the invitee of any dangers or must make any dangerous conditions safe. The dangers that must be addressed include those the owner either knew of or should have discovered with a reasonable inspection.
- Trespassers – A trespasser is anyone without the legal right or owner’s permission to enter the property. An owner or person in control of property has no duty to a trespasser other than to avoid causing them injury willfully, wantonly, or as a result of gross negligence.
Can You Sue for Damages for Injuries Caused by a Slip and Fall in a Parking Lot or Garage?
As a general rule, you have the right to pursue damages if you slip and fall in any type of parking structure or facility. You must, however, demonstrate the duty owed, based on your status, and prove that the owner breached the duty owed to you.
At the law office of Bailey & Galyen, we know the impact that any personal injury can have on your day-to-day life. If you have been hurt in slip and fall in a parking lot, parking garage, or other commercial property, let us help. Contact us online or call our offices at 844-402-2992. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
