With the exception of those that are located in the most crowded downtown areas, most Colorado businesses recognize the importance of providing parking as an amenity for workers, customers and visitors. Parking lots help to make visiting a business convenient by allowing people to use their own transportation to visit without any advance planning.
Unfortunately, parking lots require a lot of effort and investment to maintain appropriately. They occasionally need to be resurfaced so that they are safe for people to drive and walk on, they need potholes patched when the seasons change and they also require investments for security purposes.
Occasionally, property owners in Colorado will face civil lawsuits because of the way that they have maintained their parking lot or failed to do so. What issues commonly lead to parking lot claims?
1. Rough surfaces or visibility issues
Failing to fill the potholes in a parking lot or have the traffic lines repainted can lead to unfortunate incidents for those driving in a parking lot. Pedestrians could get knocked down if drivers don’t realize an area is a crosswalk.
Vehicles might collide with one another if there is an area with a lot of potholes that forces them to all drive in the same lane. People can also blow out tires and damage their vehicles if they hit potholes while traveling at higher speeds.
Poor maintenance could also involve not properly trimming nearby bushes and trees. When plants overgrow areas of a parking lot, that lack of maintenance could affect visibility and lead to collisions or pedestrian crashes. Those who suffer injury or major property damage losses because of a poorly-maintained parking lot may have grounds for a claim against the property owner.
2. Inadequate security
Parking lots are a hotspot for criminal activity. Parking lots where there will be many vehicles and few people present, like a church parking lot, are the perfect location for an opportunistic criminal to break a few windows and steal from people. Parking lots can also see assaults and other violent crimes in addition to property crimes.
Businesses can potentially deter criminal activity by maintaining the overall premises properly and investing in security measures. Outdoor cameras, motion-activated lights and even fences around parking lots can diminish the likelihood of criminal activity occurring.
In some cases, premises liability insurance coverage will compensate those who have been affected by a parking lot incident. Other times, a lawsuit against the property owner may be the best option. Taking action after an injury or property damage loss in a parking lot can benefit those who have been injured as a result of inadequate maintenance.
