Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
Mechanic left my vehicle in parked reverse
On 1-24-04, I picked up my vehicle from the mechanic shop, the mechanic who worked on my vehicle left it in reverse without a parking brake on, the vehicle was a standard gears. It was parked outside, when I went to start the vehicle it started in reverse, there was another mechanic who was working on a vehicle outside of the shop on a toyota 4 runner, if it would have been in 1st gear it would have hit him. Since it was in reverse with no brake on, it ran over my right foot, knocked me to the ground and ran over my hip chest and head. No one there called for help, instead the mechani was yelling at me ''what did you do''. No one there called for help, a mechanic there did witness this accident, but they chose to argue with me rather than to call for help. I drove off and about twenty minutes later I pulled over and called for help, due to feeeling dizzy and lightheaded. I stayed overnight in a hospital, I only had soft tissue damage and couldn't lift anything for a couple of months. I was out of work for 6 weeks, Do I have any recourse and do mechanics need to park a vehicle in a correct gear and parking brake on when they are finished working on a vehicle. I am wondering do they have safety rules they should adhere to?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Mechanic left my vehicle in parked reverse
Well to be quite frank, the issue as to who is at fault in this matter will be basically your word against theirs. Furthermore, in California we have a comparative fault system. In other words, if this goes to trial, the jury will assign a percentage of fault to each person. It very well could be that you were partially at fault because you did not check the gears before you started the car, and I assume you were not wearing a seat belt, because you stated you had your foot run over and you fell to the ground, which would necessarily mean that you fell out of the car.
Another problem with the case is the witnesses are probably not going to testify against their own employer because they would fear losing their jobs.
I would be willing to explore the case to see if there if we could get you a settlement. Call me at 818-427-6246.
Norm
Re: Mechanic left my vehicle in parked reverse
My first question is, how badly were you hurt? They should have put the emergency brake on. You may contact me. I win cases.
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