Mindell Law Firm

Slip and Fall Drug Store Parking Lot

Michigan Slip and Fall Attorney

I fell in the parking lot of a drug store in SouthEast Michigan, what do I do?

What did you fall on?  I fell on a crack in the asphalt.

Has anyone made you aware of the open and obvious law in Michigan?  No.

The story really begins with the Lugo case which was a Michigan Supreme Court decision from July of 2001.  Mrs. Lugo was going into an Ameritech Store to take care of some business.  She parked her car and was walking down the parking lot when a truck came barreling out near her.  She stepped aside to get out of the way of the truck and she stepped into a pothole.  The parking lot was full of problems and not well maintained.  She made a claim for her serious injury.  The Michigan Supreme Court  stated in their decision that even though the owners should have fixed their parking lot she could not be compensated because in their opinion this was an “open and obvious condition that an ordinary person could see and avoid.”  The court changed decades of law that said that owners must keep their property safe for customers and business guests.  In effect making them no longer responsible to the injured victim for their negligence.

Why is this unfair?  The business owner is no longer incentivized to keep their business safe.  If their parking lot or sidewalk is full of potholes and in disrepair and they do nothing, they often times can just say it was open and obvious.  The Michigan Courts essentially say that if people don’t want to encounter these dangers they should just go home.  But from a practical perspective we can’t all just stay home.  We need to go to the grocery store to get food.  We need to go to the CVS or Walgreens to get our prescriptions picked up.  If we see problems we can’t leave and drive around hundreds of miles until we find a Kroger or CVS that we deem safe.  We have to live and that means leaving our house and taking care of things that have to get done.  We rely on the owners of these properties to make it safe so we can safely get our prescriptions or our groceries.  If they don’t have to then we consumers are left in an impossible situation.

Please read an article from local CBS that discusses this issue.  We think this is an unfair law.  Please know who you are voting for in the next election and what they stand for.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/12/27/slip-and-fall-cases-tough-to-make-in-michigan-courts/