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We are saddened to read about how an 80-year-old woman who was involved in a parking lot accident off Portsmouth Boulevard in Chesapeake last week has died from her injuries.
Peggy Johnson was flown by Nightingale to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital with multiple life-threatening injuries after she was mown down by a car in the Dollar Tree parking lot near Chesapeake Square Mall on September 17.
We are shocked that a woman walking across a parking lot could sustain such serious injuries. Drivers have a duty to look out for pedestrians in parking lots. Clearly, something went tragically wrong. The driver stopped and cooperated with police. No charges have yet been filed over this accident.
Peggy Johnson was hit in the 4300 block of Portsmouth Boulevard, not far from Chesapeake Square Mall, according to media reports. The vehicle apparently turned down a lane to park and the driver failed to see the pedestrian walking. The vehicle hit and drove over Ms. Johnson. Our thoughts are with Ms. Johnson’s family.
Chesapeake Police spokesman Leo Kosinski said officers and firefighters responded to the parking lot of a Dollar Tree close to Portsmouth Boulevard around 11:40 a.m. on September 17.
Although we associate parking lots with fender benders, they can be dangerous places. It’s vital for drivers to keep down their speeds and to look out for shoppers and other walkers. Often children run out in front of cars in parking lots. Drivers must always obey direction signs and not cut across spaces. They should yield to pedestrians at crosswalks.
It’s vital to kill your speed in parking lots to avoid injuring pedestrians. According to the Virginia Department of Transportation, the speed limit for most business and residential areas is 25 mph. Any town, city, or county in Virginia can regulate vehicle and pedestrian flow, parking, and speed limits on parking lots open to the public designed to accommodate 50 or more vehicles. No local ordinance can conflict with state law.
Although pedestrians can be seriously injured or even killed in low-speed motor vehicle collisions in parking lots, insurance carriers often deny parking lots claims because vehicles are moving slowly. People who are injured in parking lots of the families of those who lose a loved one may need to speak to a Chesapeake personal injury attorney to put pressure on the insurance company.
Under Virginia law, every driver has a duty to keep a proper lookout. This is the case in a parking lot as well as on the highway.
The Virginia Supreme Court has defined the duty to keep a lookout as the duty to see “what a reasonable person would have seen” and to react as a reasonable person would react.
Most parking lot accidents occur when vehicles are backing out of parking spots. If a driver is heading down a through lane and he or she sees a vehicle backing out, the oncoming driver has an obligation to stop.
Parking lots can be dangerous places. You should always look out for pedestrians, children, cyclists, and other drivers when you are in a parking lot. If you or a loved one has been involved in a parking lot accident in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Newport News or Suffolk please call Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers at (757) 455-0077.