Parking Lot & Garage Negligent Security Attorney in Atlanta

Negligent security lawsuits involving parking lots or garages can be brought when the owner of the property fails to institute adequate safety measures on site, creating a prime opportunity for a third-party criminal attack.

Sometimes parking lots are owned individually. In Atlanta, parking lot owners can charge a premium for parking, particularly in popular districts or during major cultural events. But other entities like hotels, apartment complexes, amusement parks, resorts, convention centers, airports, gas stations, sporting venues, restaurants, nightclubs, and municipalities – they have an additional responsibility for the safety and well-being of their invitees who navigate attached or adjacent parking lots. When they fail to install adequate security, it puts those people at risk.

Larger venues may have massive parking lots, prompting owners to contract with third party security firms to patrol them. These sites also tend to be brightly-lit and monitored by security cameras. Some are gated and require a key fob or pin code to enter.

Whether the security measures in place are adequate really depends on the nature of the business, the crime level in the neighborhood, and whether there’s been a pattern of reported crime at that specific location. Because that is a fact-specific and often complicated question, it is critical that you work with a premises liability lawyer with extensive experience in negligent security cases.

Georgia premises liability laws require landowners to maintain the safety of their property so that it does not pose an unreasonable risk of harm to lawful visitors.

If you become attacked or injured as a result of a property owner or a business establishment neglecting to maintain a safe parking lot, you may have grounds to pursue a legal claim for monetary damages due to the losses you incurred. This can include compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and emotional anguish.

When an accident occurs in a parking lot resulting in injury, the other drivers may be liable if you can prove they were negligent/at-fault. If the person who struck you was working at the time, their employer may be held vicariously liable for their negligence. In some cases, the vehicle owner may be held financially responsible, even if he or she wasn’t the one behind the wheel.

When a criminal assault occurs in a parking lot, you could potentially sue the person who attacked you for committing an intentional tort. If that defendant personally has ample assets, that route is absolutely worth it because you may even be able to collect additional punitive damages (per O.C.G.A. 51-12-5.1 specifically intended to punish the offender). But most times, the offender either isn’t known or doesn’t have personal assets worth pursuing. This is when third-party liability of the parking lot owner would be a valid question.

Parking lot owners or managers may be held liable when their negligence contributed to the incident – whether that’s a vehicle crash, a trip-and-fall, or a criminal assault. The owner/manager of the parking lot might be found negligent when:

• A dangerous condition existed in the parking lot or there was evidence that guests could be at heightened risk of being crime targets;
• The parking lot owner or controller failed to take action to correct the dangerous condition, institute adequate security measures, or warn invitees of the risk;
• The victim’s injuries likely could have been prevented had the parking lot owner or manager abided their legal duty.

For example, if a person is robbed or assaulted in a parking lot, the parking lot/owner manager could be held partially liable if the victim can prove that:

1. the parking lot was dangerous
2. that the parking lot owner/manager understood these dangers or should have understood them; and
3. that the parking lot owner did not take action to remedy the situation

If you are involved in a minor fender bender in a parking lot, you may not need an attorney’s help. If you didn’t suffer any serious injuries that required emergency treatment or hospitalization or time off work, it is plausible that you could work out a reasonable deal with insurers involved on your own. However, if your injuries are more severe, the stakes are higher – and the outcome shouldn’t be left to chance. Insurers will have attorneys working for them. You should too.

In the event of a negligent security incident, consider that parking lot owners likely made money by inviting you onto their property. With that invitation came the responsibility to keep you reasonably safe. Failure to initiate even basic security measures is a serious breach of their legal responsibility to you. A parking lot attack is an obvious crime. The accused, if caught, will likely face criminal charges from the state prosecutor. It may even result in a criminal conviction and possibly incarceration. But none of that results in compensation for you, the victim, for your physical, economic, and emotional losses. It also doesn’t necessarily mean anything will change for the next person who encounters the same potential dangers at that location.

A civil case empowers survivors to seek compensation for the full extent of their damages, including medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. It also offers an opportunity to hold negligent property owners accountable, so that what you endured is less likely to occur to someone else.

Essentially, the statute of limitations means the amount of time you have from when the injury occurs until you must file a lawsuit. It is important to remember that your case does not have to conclude by the end of the statute, it just has to be filed before it ends.

Under GA Code § 9-3-33, the statute of limitations holds that injured parties in Georgia have just two years to bring parking lot & garage personal injury claims forward. After those two years, a court will dismiss your claim. It is important to remember that oftentimes, insurance companies will engage in stalling techniques to run out the clock and avoid paying you anything.

Due to the many complex factors which apply to the statute of limitations, victims looking to pursue a civil claim should contact a personal injury lawyer experienced in parking lot & garage injury cases.