Personal Injury at a Car Wash
My question involves an injury that occurred in the state of: Indiana
I went to the local car wash on Christmas day, put my money in and started washing my truck when suddenly my left foot dropped about 3' into a drain catch troth as a section of the grates was missing. My upper left leg was hurting bad, my pants were soaked up to my groin and my shoe was full of muck. After composing myself and some harsh language I called the phone number listed, it was the owners son who after I told him what happened replied "sorry about that and I will have someone check it tomorrow." I told him that I wanted the owner to call me asap. I waited and within an hour the owners wife showed up, she was worried if I was OK and I told her that my leg hurt like hell and then her husband showed up, he took pictures of the missing grates, we went in his office and I dropped my drawers and showed him the scraps and bruises on my thigh, he asked if I was going to the doctor, I replied that I didn't think it was necessary as it's not broke but just hurting, he roped off the entire bay and put wooden pallets on the entire drain section and said that they will call me tomorrow (today) and suggested that I put ice on it. Well needless to say my Christmas day was over as it hurt to walk, I put ice on it and some pain pill's to get through watching TV as I couldn't do anything else. Woke up this morning and my leg has stiffened up and still is painful and hard to walk, I am on vacation from work but can not deer hunt as planned. What should I tell the owner when he calls? I do not want to sue as I'm not that type but at 59 years old my body isn't as tough as it once was, I want my shoes replaced and a little something for the pain I'm going through and my vacation is greatly altered by this, thanks for any help.
Re: Personal Injury at a Car Wash
For the owner to owe you any money he would have to have been negligent. Negligence means he knew or should have known that a harmful defect existed and failed to remedy the defect and that the defect was the direct cause of your injury.
From your description I'm guessing that this is a self service coin operated car wash which would likely require the owner to visit frequently to collect money, refill soap machines, make sure things were working. If the missing grate was in an obvious place he should have seen that it was missing and that it created an obvious hazard.
But here's the thing. If he should have seen it, so should you. So there is a bit of negligence on your part since you weren't paying attention to what you were doing.
Indiana law says that if you are more than 50% at fault you collect nothing.
See IC 34-51-2-5 and IC 34-51-2-6:
http://iga.in.gov/static-documents/4...4_AR51_ch2.pdf
The degree of negligence is for a court of law to decide. Until then it's a matter of negotiation.
Without a serious injury and/or medical treatment, your claim is probably worth a few hundred dollars at best. All I can suggest is that you pick a dollar figure that you can live with and ask for it. If you don't like the response, then you get to decide if it's worth going to small claims court.
Re: Personal Injury at a Car Wash
Thank you for your reply, yes it is a 12 bay coin hand and has two automatic car wash's, they usually have an attendant onsite during normal business hours. the missing grate was partially obstructed by a concrete support for the coin/selection controls. As far as paying attention, my truck is two weeks old and my Xmas present was new running boards so I was cleaning the undercarriage in prep for installing them, I was crouched down spraying the undercarriage working my way towards the front when it happened, I wash my vehicles here often and there is always grates from wall to wall so I did not do a walk around nor notice it missing. Thanks again for your reply
Re: Personal Injury at a Car Wash
Get to a hospital and have a doctor document your injury. Without that, you will get nothing but a few free car washes if you're lucky.
You said the defect was hidden, that just may take the negligence away from the owner of the property.
In order to receive money damages in a lawsuit, you need everything you don't have.
1. Negligence.
2. Documentation of an injury.
3. Loss time of work (a local hunting trip isn't going to get you anything unless maybe you spent $800 on airfare and another $1500 in lodging, and you missed that trip.)
3. Percentage of disability after recovery.
Re: Personal Injury at a Car Wash
The owner of the car wash wasn't a doctor and can't diagnose squat. And if it ever did go to court, I'm sure the owner wouldn't be a very good witness against himself. The owner immediately corrected the situation by roping the area off. Typically an injury that doesn't warrant a trip to the ER, medi-center or doctors office like a few scrapes and maybe a bruise, doesn't bring much money (if at all any) to negotiations. I see a few free car washes or a couple hundred dollars. $3000 or $5000 will make the owner cut this guy off and have his insurance company handle it, after all, that is what he pays them for.
Re: Personal Injury at a Car Wash
Thank you all for your opinions and advise, yesterday my leg is still sore and has stiffened up some so I'm walking as if a cast is on it, now this morning as I type it feels 20% better then yesterday, still sore and limping but 20% better! The owner called yesterday to check on me and to call him or his wife if I needed anything. Thanks again and I will post how this ends, as of now I just want my shoes replaced and lots free (automatic)..lol car washes, I'm not trying to take advantage of an unfortunate situation but my pain and downtime should be worth that.
Re: Personal Injury at a Car Wash
The fact is that to win the case, the plaintiff does have to prove negligence. That means in this case the plaintiff has to prove that the owner knew or should have known of the danger and failed to take reasonable action to prevent customers from harm. The simple fact that the grate was missing by itself is not enough to win. You also have to prove that the owner had knowledge or should have known the grate was missing. And no, it is not required that the owner have someone there 24/7 to watch the place.
So if the OP were to sue, he or she is going to need to have evidence of the negligence; i.e. evidence that the owner knew or should have known of the problem and failed to take reasonable steps to address it. If the grate had popped off just 30 minutes before, for example, and he had not had a chance to discover the problem, he would not be negligent and thus not liable for the injuries. If it had been off for several weeks, on the other hand, he surely should have seen it and there would be a much stronger case for negligence. Now, if the OP hires a lawyer to sue the car wash operator the lawyer will know how to get that evidence in discovery, if it exists, but unless the OP's case is worth more than a few thousand bucks no lawyer is going to take that on a contingent fee basis (where the fee is a percentage of what is owed).
Re: Personal Injury at a Car Wash
Buck, the title assigned to you here is a "Business Invitee", aka, a Customer/Patron. Businesses have a Duty of care to you, true, but under general "Premises Liability" law, their liability is NOT Strict in nature, meaning absolute. Slip and fall, they pay, period, is not true. Specific facts need to be evaluated by an attorney if you are not satisfied with any reasonable offer by the company and desire more and do not wish to go the do it yourself route.
Re: Personal Injury at a Car Wash
Why do some grocery stores pay out when there is no personal negligence by the employees?
Re: Personal Injury at a Car Wash
Quote:
Quoting
Chuck77
tell why grocery stores pay out when there is no personal negligence by the employees?
It's called "go-away" money and it's a cheap way to get an injured person's signature on a "Release of all Claims" and avoid litigation. Businesses do that either with their own money or with their insurance policy's Medical Payments Coverage which doesn't require fault.