Tupelo Parking Lot Car Accidents

It has been estimated that one in five car accidents each year occur in parking lots. Many times, these wrecks lead to somebody getting hurt. Parking lot accidents can happen for several reasons.

• Accidents often occur because drivers are more concerned about an open parking spot than who is around them.
• Drivers do not pay attention to who may be walking behind them or coming down a parking aisle when they are backing out.
• Many parking lots do not have arrows or signs to properly guide traffic flow, thereby resulting in chaos, reckless driving, and disorder.
• Parking lots are often congested, especially during peak shopping hours, resulting in increased traffic and pedestrians walking in and out of stores.

To successfully recover your damages after a parking lot car accident, it must be proven that the other party was negligent in the operation of the vehicle he or she was driving. Parking lot accidents are different from traditional roadway accidents because many times, the at-fault party may not be ticketed after an accident because it occurred on private property.

With some officers hesitant to issue citations on private property, it is very important to gather as much evidence as possible immediately after the accident occurs. This can be accomplished by still contacting the Tupelo Police Department, speaking with all witnesses at the scene and gathering their contact information, contacting the business where the accident happened to view their video footage, or by taking detailed photos of the scene, including property damage. Even if no citations are issued, the responding officer could still create an incident report.

If no citations are issued, parking lot car accident cases can turn into word versus word among the parties involved. Sometimes, the other driver will try to claim you were at fault for the collision. This would be an example of the defendant asserting the defense of comparative fault, which is allowed under Mississippi law. Unlike some states, Mississippi’s version of comparative fault is known as pure comparative fault. This means that the victim’s recovery can be reduced by his or her percentage of negligence. Technically, even if the victim is equally at fault, the victim can still recover damages according to the defendant’s percentage of fault, assuming direct and proximate cause can be met.