Many Missouri apartment complexes and office buildings, as well as other facilities, provide convenience to guests, residents and visitors by offering parking spaces for their vehicles. Parking garages often have security cameras or posted guards to help improve safety for patrons and guests. However, injuries sometimes occur that constitute grounds for filing a premises liability claim.
This post includes parking garage safety tips that may help avoid accidents. It is important to remember that injuries that occur in a parking garage do not always result from a motor vehicle collision. Slips and falls, as well as violent crimes, also take place in such locations.
It is best to navigate parking garages in groups
While it sometimes cannot be avoided, it is best not to walk through a parking garage alone. This makes a person a potential target for criminals. Those on their own may ask a security guard to accompany them to and from a vehicle. It is best to call ahead to make sure a garage has security on site.
If there are no guards, there should at least be camera surveillance and ample lighting to help visitors stay safe. Fumbling around for keys or searching a back seat or trunk also could make a person a target for assault. Always have keys ready and act confidently when walking to and from a vehicle.
Park in garages with ample lighting and security
If a garage is dark, it greatly increases the risk of injury, either by tripping and falling or by attracting criminals who lurk in darkened areas and search for potential victims. Also, all paved areas should be free of potholes or cracks that could cause safety hazards. If injuries occur in a Missouri parking garage and there is evidence of premises liability, a claim can be filed in a civil court to seek restitution for damages.
