Parking lots are extremely dangerous and are often one place where many accidents occur. The National Safety Council says that “tens of thousands of crashes occur in parking lots and garage structures annually, resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries.” If your child was injured in a parking lot accident in Cedar Rapids, IA and you are looking to sue but aren’t sure if you have the grounds to do so, read on for some helpful information.
Suing After a Parking Lot Accident
Before you take the necessary steps to file a personal injury lawsuit for the injuries your child suffered, you need to determine a few things including:
- What was the cause of the accident? Was the driver distracted or were they operating their vehicle in a reckless manner?
- Was the motorist violating one or more traffic laws?
- Are you in need of compensation to cover things like medical bills, lost wages, loss of enjoyment of life, etc.?
In most personal injury cases, you are going to (1) need to gather evidence that proves that the driver was negligent in some way, and (2) be able to assess your injuries/losses and place a value on them. When you can prove that the driver who hit your child was negligent or reckless, you then have a basis for filing suit.
Let’s say hypothetically that a driver was backing out of a parking space and texting while in the process of doing so. As a result, he or she hit your child as they were walking by. In this case, not only would the driver be considered negligent, but he or she would also be in violation of Iowa’s distracted driving law. According to §321.276 Motor Vehicles and Law of the Road, “A person shall not use a hand-held electronic communication device to write, send, or view an electronic message while driving a motor vehicle unless the motor vehicle is at a complete stop off the traveled portion of the roadway.”
In this particular case, you could sue the driver for engaging in negligent behavior that led to your child suffering injuries. The fact is, had the driver been paying attention to the road rather than using his or her cellphone, your child would likely have been able to pass by the vehicle without getting hit. Unfortunately, the driver did violate the law which directly interfered with his or her ability to operate their vehicle in a safe manner which then caused your child harm. In order to determine what your child would be entitled to recover, you would need to assess the damages suffered. You might consider the following when trying to place a value on your child’s case:
- Did your child need to be transported to the hospital via ambulance?
- Did they need to have any type of procedure performed or will they need to have one done in the future as a result of their injuries?
- Are you in need of financial assistance to help cover the medical bills that have accrued as a result of the care your child needed to have rendered as a result of the incident?
- Did the accident cause your child to become disabled or become disfigured?
- How has the accident impacted your family and your child’s ability to carry on with his or her life?
These are only some of the questions that can be used to help determine what an accident victim should ask for when filing a personal injury lawsuit after suffering injuries in a parking lot incident.
Now, if you believe the driver who hit your child was negligent in some way, rather than trying to navigate the complex legal system you must go through to file suit, it is best that you contact Eells & Tronvold Law Offices, P.L.C. to speak with one of our trusted personal injury lawyers in Cedar Rapids, IA. While many are under the impression that all they have to do in order to win their case is identify what the driver was doing wrong, it is much more difficult than that. The fact is, you must prove that the motorist was engaging in negligent behavior.
How do you do this?
Well, it can actually be rather tricky for the average person to recover enough evidence to support their case and it is often even harder to identify which of Iowa’s laws were being violated at the time of the accident. With that said, it is best to hire a Cedar Rapids, IA personal injury attorney who handles cases similar to these on a regular basis help you file your lawsuit. Although the court receives numerous personal injury lawsuits, not all plaintiffs are successful at recovering the compensation they deserve. However, if you want to ensure you are prepared for court and have all the documentation you need to secure a favorable outcome, then Eells & Tronvold Law Offices, P.L.C. is the firm you want to hire.
You can reach Eells & Tronvold Law Offices, P.L.C. at:
1921 51st Street NE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402
Phone: (319) 393-1020
Fax: (319) 393-4000
Website: www.eellsandtronvold.com
