In a typical South Jersey accident and injury lawsuit, such as a car accident case in Marlton or Cherry Hill, an injured driver/passenger will take the at fault driver to court. However, many people injured in car accidents in NJ are often surprised to learn that a party other than the at fault driver may have caused the accident and may therefore be sued, in addition to the other driver.
Related: NJ Pedestrian/Car Accident Law – What Pedestrians Need to Know About Their Rights to Sue
Liability of Other Parties, A Hypothetical Pedestrian-Car Accident at a NJ Shopping Plaza Parking Lot
There are certain car accident situations when businesses like a shopping plaza or mall owner may also be legally responsible for a car accident, such as a pedestrian-car accident that occurs in the plaza or mall parking lot.
Consider the following situation. A driver turns into a shopping plaza. As he reaches a stop sign in the shopping plaza parking lot, he attempts to make a right to enter the parking lot of a specific store. As he turns right, he hits a pedestrian carrying a child in a crosswalk walking to the store. The mother and the child are seriously injured, and the driver is sued in a subsequent lawsuit.
The mother and child’s lawyer conducts an investigation of the parking lot. At the accident location, there is a large, overgrown bush which obstructs the view of pedestrians using that particular crosswalk. The lawyer decides that there is a valid claim against the owner of the shopping plaza because its failure to trim the bush created an unreasonably dangerous condition. Therefore, the shopping plaza owner is also sued.
As the lawsuit progresses, it’s revealed that a couple of weeks before this accident, there was a similar accident at the same location. Luckily, no one was seriously injured in the previous accident. The parties involved in the previous accident told the manager of the store, who then made a report to the shopping plaza owner. It was the shopping plaza owner’s duty to maintain the parking lot, including trimming bushes. The shopping plaza owner agreed that the bush obstructed drivers’ views, but did not have anyone trim the bush.
In this situation, the shopping plaza owner may be responsible for the mother and child’s injuries and damages because he did not trim the bush even though he agreed that it obstructed drivers’ views. Therefore, the driver and the shopping plaza owner may both be liable for the pedestrians’ injuries.
If the shopping plaza hired a contractor to trim the bushes after the first accident where no one was hurt, but the contractor never showed up to trim the bush or failed to perform the services properly, then the contractor may also be responsible for the pedestrians’ injuries. The driver, the shopping plaza owner and the contractor may all be responsible.
Help After a NJ Pedestrian-Car Accident
If you were a pedestrian hit by a car or truck in an accident in Cherry Hill, Marlton or Camden, NJ, call Phil Ciprietti to schedule a FREE initial legal consultation. Mr. Ciprietti has been representing injured car, bus and truck accident victims for over 35 years. 800-281-8695
*Disclaimer: Every case is unique and you should not take any action or make decisions in your case without speaking to a qualified car and truck accident lawyer in New Jersey. This website page does not provide legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship. Use of the contact form on this website or emailing Mr. Ciprietti does not create any attorney-client relationship. In addition, confidential information should not be sent through the contact form.