Buffalo’s winter weather often leads to dangerous conditions for pedestrians. When a person is injured as a result of slipping in a parking lot shared by several stores, who is responsible will depend on the circumstances and any arrangements made by the owner for maintenance of the property.
First, no one is expected to be able to immediately clear snow and ice from a parking lot, and the law does not require them to do so. The dangerous condition must have been present long enough that it should have been discovered and corrected for a lawsuit to be successful. When someone falls while a storm is in progress, he or she may not be able to successfully proceed against anyone because the party responsible for clearing the area did not have time to correct the problem.
When the snow or ice was present long enough to be discovered but it was not removed, who is responsible will depend on any arrangements made between the owner, stores that lease the property, and any third party hired to clear and salt the area. In the case of plaza parking lots, the owner usually hires a maintenance contractor to clear the area. As a result, the individual stores would have no responsibility.
In this situation, you may be able to proceed against both the owner and the maintenance contractor. Whether the maintenance contractor bears any responsibility, however, will depend on the details of the contractual agreement between them and whether that agreement was fulfilled.
If you have been injured in a fall and have any questions, please feel free to call my office at 716-542-5444. We would be happy to help you.
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