How to Avoid a Car Accident in a Muncie Parking Garage

Parking seems to be an issue wherever you go, whether you live in a big city or a small town. Muncie has recent industrial developments throughout the city that have led to several parking garages such as the Emens Parking, McKinley Avenue, Ball Memorial Hospital, and the new Ball State parking structure.

The benefits of parking structures are the obvious parking spaces in one convenient place, but there are some general drawbacks: small parking spaces, poor lighting, and tight corners. Even though these do not seem to be huge deal breakers, they can lead to a higher likelihood of car accidents.

Precautions to Take in a Muncie Parking Garage

Taking precautions while driving is always recommended: making sure that you can see out of your mirrors, driving with both hands on the wheel, not driving while distracted, using your turn signal, etc. These are all basic driving precautions that many people implement without thinking since they’re ingrained in our driving process. However, in parking structures, you need to be more vigilant because of the small parking spaces, poor lighting, and tight corners. Some additional precautions are:

• Backing Out Slowly: Make sure that cars coming around corners can see your taillights to know you are backing out.
• Parking Further Away: Avoid parking right next to the entrance or elevators if you can. That is where there are fewer spaces available and more people desire those spots to be close to the exits.
• Driving More Slowly Around Corners: Some parking garages have good flows of traffic where exiting traffic goes a different way than entering traffic. Driving slowly around corners is still advised; in addition, to the Muncie parking garages that have a good traffic flow, if a parking garage doesn’t, drive extra slowly around corners.
• Watching for Pedestrians: Be on the lookout for pedestrians weaving in between cars and hiding in your blind spot. The poor lighting in many Muncie parking garages doesn’t exactly help you see pedestrians any better, so be extra careful.
• Using Your Horn: Use your horn to avoid accidents. It’s there to get people’s attention and keep both of you safe!

Even though you may take these extra precautions in a Muncie parking garage, it doesn’t mean you’ll never get into a parking garage accident. Unfortunately, no matter how safe you are, someone else’s recklessness could injure you in a car accident. If you do happen to get in an accident, do not worry. Treat the accident like any other car accident in Indiana. The main difficulty in a Muncie parking garage accident will be determining who was at fault and also if the property owner is liable for any damages.

Determining Fault

Determining fault in any Muncie parking garage is difficult. Often the poorly planned traffic flow and lack of space creates additional challenges to interpret who has the right of way. In general, it is assumed that a car in the driving lane has the right of way and other cars who are backing out or turning must yield. Also, while backing out of a parking space, there is another assumption that both drivers are responsible for knowing their surroundings and being aware of other cars behind or in front of them. It’s necessary to determine fault for a Muncie car accident since Indiana is a fault state and your percentage of fault will determine where you can recover damages from and how much you can recover in damages. A Muncie car accident attorney can explain how fault may affect your case.

Can the Muncie Parking Garage Owner be Liable?

Yes, there is a possibility the owner of the Muncie parking garage can be liable if you’re injured at a parking garage.

Under premises liability law, the property owner is responsible for preventable accidents or injuries that occur on their property. For example, if an unmarked puddle caused you to slip and fall in a Muncie parking garage, the garage owner may be liable because if they had known about the puddle and failed to clean it up. In addition to proving the owner’s duty and a breach of duty, more components are involved — another reason to consult an experienced premises liability lawyer.

Muncie Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help

Cases like these are tricky. Each case is different and has its own obstacles and hoops to jump through from determining which driver deserves the majority of fault to determining whether or not the Muncie parking garage owner is at fault as well. Seek help from a Muncie personal injury attorney today. Call Hensley Legal Group or contact us online for a free consultation.