Do You Have a Premise Liability Case From a Classic Car Show?
If you have a love of classic cars, you can find yourself attending numerous classic car shows. Car shows are a great way to spend the day hanging out with friends or making new friends among collectors, owners, or enthusiasts.
Car shows often take place in rented or borrowed spaces. This location means that if an accident happens at a car show, it can be challenging to know who is responsible. If negligence on the part of the property owner causes an accident that leads to your injury, you may have a premises liability case. Here are a few of the criteria your case must meet.
What Is Premises Liability?
When organizers look for space for classic car shows, they consider several things. They often look for property that can handle both the number of cars they anticipate putting on display and the traffic they think the show will generate. What they do not always consider is the condition of the property they are using. The care and maintenance of the property fall on the property owner.
Premises liability laws state that property owners are legally responsible to maintain a state of safety in their properties. The property owners are responsible for the care and maintenance of the property at all times, even when they are renting out the property. If the owner fails to provide the proper level of care, they are responsible for accident-related injuries on their property.
What Type of Injuries Do Premises Liability Cases Include?
Any type of accident due to negligent maintenance of a property can be considered a premises liability case. Some common causes include:
- Dog bites
- Child injuries
- Slip-and-fall accidents
- Inadequate maintenance
- Negligent security
- Exposure to toxic chemicals
The property owner can also be liable if your injury is due to poor lighting in the parking lot, broken sidewalks, or curbing leading up to the car show.
What Must a Premises Liability Case Prove?
A premises liability case is not as easy as filling a claim against the property owner for any injury on their property. Even if you can prove the property was unsafe, that alone is often not enough to win your case. A premises liability case must meet specific other criteria.
You must first prove that you were a guest or invited to the property. Proving this is an easy criterion to meet since most car shows are open to the public or are by invitation extended to owners of a particular brand or model of a car.
You must also be able to show that the property owner was aware of the safety issues on the property and failed to address them promptly. These criteria can be a little more difficult to prove depending on where the car show is. You may want to check if the car shows organizers previously notified the property owner of the danger.
What Is Comparative Negligence?
In Nevada, you must also understand comparative negligence. This criterion can impact the amount you can recover if some of the responsibility for your accident falls on you. Even if you can show negligence on the property owner’s part, their attorney will argue that you were at fault as well. Comparative negligence is a common defense used in premises liability cases.
Nevada Revised Statutes section 41.141 addresses comparative negligence. The statute states that your settlement can be reduced by the percentage of your responsibility up to and including 50%. If your responsibility exceeds 50%, you will not recover any settlement.
For example, the court may find because you were talking on your cell phone while walking to your car, you are 25% responsible for your trip and fall. If the court awards you $10,000 for your trip and fall settlement, a 25% reduction will reduce your settlement to $7,500.
Premises liability cases can be complicated and become even more so when lessees of the property, such as classic car show clubs, are involved. Fortunately, Bradley, Drendel & Jeanney has years of experience settling these types of cases. Give us a calltoday for a free consultation on your case.