Parking garages are a familiar part of life in Atlanta. They serve office towers, hospitals, apartment buildings, hotels, shopping centers, entertainment venues, and mixed-use developments throughout the city. While concerns about parking garage safety often focus on vehicle collisions or criminal activity, some of the most serious injuries arise from the property itself.
A poorly maintained walking surface, a defective railing, an unsafe stairwell, or a falling piece of concrete can turn an ordinary walk to or from a vehicle into a life-changing event. When dangerous property conditions cause serious harm, determining how long the hazard existed and who was responsible for addressing it can become central to a Georgia premises liability claim.
Parking Garages Present Safety Risks of Their Own
Parking structures combine vehicle areas, pedestrian walkways, ramps, stairwells, elevators, drainage systems, and structural components within a relatively confined space. Each requires appropriate inspection and maintenance.
Potential hazards can include:
- Broken or uneven walking surfaces.
- Potholes and deteriorating concrete.
- Water accumulation caused by poor drainage.
- Defective stairs or missing handrails.
- Inadequate lighting in pedestrian areas.
- Loose or damaged guardrails.
- Falling concrete or other structural materials.
- Unmarked changes in elevation.
- Elevator or escalator defects.
- Debris or maintenance equipment obstructing walkways.
Some conditions develop gradually. Others may result from construction, repairs, weather exposure, or inadequate maintenance. The origin of the danger can matter when identifying who may bear responsibility.
Who Is Responsible for Maintaining an Atlanta Parking Garage?
Ownership and control of a parking structure are not always straightforward. A garage may belong to a commercial property owner while being operated by a separate parking company. Another contractor may handle maintenance, while structural repairs are assigned to yet another business.
That can make an investigation more complicated than simply determining where someone fell or was struck by falling material.
Georgia premises liability cases often require examining whether a responsible party knew or should have known about a dangerous condition and failed to take reasonable steps to correct it or warn visitors. Inspection records, maintenance requests, repair histories, photographs, surveillance footage, prior complaints, and contracts between the businesses involved may help establish what happened.
A Small Defect Can Cause a Major Injury
The mechanism of an injury may appear ordinary even when the consequences are anything but. A person who trips over deteriorated concrete can suffer a traumatic brain injury. A fall on a poorly maintained stairway can cause spinal trauma or multiple fractures. A failed railing can cause a fall from a significant height.
Don’t evaluate these cases solely by how commonplace the initial event sounds. The hazard’s location, the injury’s severity, notice of the dangerous condition, and the effect on the injured person’s future can all matter.
Investigating What Happened Before the Injury
After a serious parking garage injury, the condition can change quickly. Water can be removed, damaged surfaces repaired, warning signs added, or surveillance footage overwritten. Preserving evidence can therefore be particularly important.
At Ashby Thelen Lowry, our Atlanta personal injury attorneys investigate serious premises liability claims to determine how a dangerous condition developed, who controlled the property, and whether reasonable safety measures could have prevented the harm.
If you or someone you love suffered a serious injury because of an unsafe condition in an Atlanta parking garage, call (404) 777-7771 or contact us online to discuss what happened and learn more about your legal options.