Woman knocked headfirst into bumper of parked car in parking lot

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Case: Pedestrian struck in a parking lot and knocked headfirst into a parked car’s bumper.

(Our client was walking to her car in a parking lot when a car came from behind her and tried to turn into a parking spot next to where she was walking. The car struck our client and forced her head first into a parked car’s bumper. The driver of the car claimed our client walked into her vehicle. Police could not determine fault due to conflicting statements. We obtained photos of the scene from the police who came out to the scene. At trial, we were able to show that the driver’s statements about what happened were not consistent with the photographs of the actual scene where the collision occurred).

Our client, in her late 50’s, was walking out of a shop in a busy parking lot during the holiday season.  She was crossing at the crosswalk coming out of the shop and approaching the rear of parked vehicles to her right.  She made it across the aisle and began to walk behind the parked vehicles (now to her left), walking towards her own parked vehicle.  The parking spaces were angled spaces.  A driver who was looking for an open parking space on an adjacent parking aisle spotted an open space close to where my client was walking.  The driver whipped around from her aisle to the aisle where my client was walking and turned in an attempt to get to the open parking space. The driver was coming from behind my client so my client could not see the vehicle as it was making its movements.  As the driver turned towards the parking space the side of her vehicle struck our client from behind, knocking our client forward headfirst into the bumper of the vehicle that was parked next to the empty space.  The impact caused multiple injuries, including a PVD to our client’s eye (which caused several large floaters in her vision), contusions, leg pain, and neck and back pains.

When the police arrived the driver of the vehicle claimed that our client walked into the side of her vehicle as she was driving by. The officer took photos (which is not common) and wrote a report.  We ordered the police report which indicated that they could not determine fault due to conflicting statements. We ordered all the officer’s notes and photos that may have been taken and received the photos. We filed a lawsuit and took the deposition of the other driver. Her statements during her deposition were inconsistent with the photographs that the officer had taken at the scene. Additionally, she admitted that the impact occurred as she was turning towards space and that our client was flung forward by the impact into the parked vehicle.  The photographs showed where my client was thrown, and also showed where her parked vehicle was which was consistent with her story that she was walking in the direction towards her parked car and that the driver who struck her came from behind my client.  Despite the evidence, the insurance company stood by their denial and we were forced to take the case to trial. The jury came back with a verdict in our client’s favor, covering all the past medical expenses as well as money for her pain and suffering and physical impairment – a win for the good guys.