Legal Question in Traffic Law in California

Re: Hit and run-who's at fault?

Thanks for your posting, and I'm sorry to hear that you were involved (or your car was involved) in the accident.

Making a case against the parking lot owner would be difficult. You will have to prove prior knowledge and negligence, which can be done, but which may be somewhat time consuming.

You may want to check out the case of Sharon P. v. Arman, Ltd., 1997 WL 289868 (Cal. Ct. App. May 30, 1997), where it was held that commercial parking garages are inherently dangerous given certain facts.

The Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles has ruled that the owner and the operator of a commercial parking garage owe a duty of due care to protect those who enter the garage from criminal activity. It does not matter if the defendants had notice of prior similar criminal activity, because commercial parking garages are inherently dangerous.

Sharon P. was sexually assaulted at gun point in the underground parking garage of the commercial office building where she worked. She sued the entity that owned the building and the entity that managed the garage. There was evidence of armed robberies at a bank branch in the office building, but no evidence of any sexual assaults.

In Ann M. v. Pacific Plaza Shopping Center, 6 Cal. 4th 666 (1993), the Supreme Court held that a shopping center owner did not have a duty to provide armed guards to prevent rapes, absent proof of prior similar criminal activity. It left open the question of whether parking garages, all-night convenience stores, and other types of commercial structures might prove so tempting to criminals as to justify a different rule.

The court of appeal held that a parking garage is so inherently dangerous that its owner and operator have a duty to protect visitors from criminal attack. It does not matter whether prior similar conduct has alerted them to the danger. The court left it to the factfinder to determine what security measures were adequate, and whether any breach of duty was a substantial factor in the assault. The court excluded multi-residential parking garages from its holding.

Best of luck, and if you have any other questions or need more information, please feel free to call my office.

Re: Hit and run-who's at fault?

you would have to prove the owner of the lot was driving the car that hit you.