Written and reviewed by Josh Kohanim, Esq., California Bar No. 328609 · Reviewed
In this guide
These claims arise in a Los Angeles parking lot, a parking structure, a driveway or an alley approach. Three questions decide them: which traffic rules reach private property, what the property owner separately owed, and how the case is proved when no officer came. Coverage, deadlines and damages are on our Los Angeles pedestrian accident lawyer page.
Which rules apply in a private lot
Vehicle Code section 21001 states that the provisions of Division 11, the rules of the road, refer exclusively to the operation of vehicles upon the highways unless a different place is specifically referred to. Section 360 defines a highway as a way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. A supermarket lot is neither publicly maintained nor a place of vehicular travel in that sense, so most rules of the road do not reach it on their own terms.
The most quoted example is backing. Section 22106 says no person shall start a stopped vehicle, nor back a vehicle on a highway, until the movement can be made with reasonable safety. Those three words matter. In a private lot, the driver who reversed into you probably did not violate section 22106, and that changes nothing about whether he was negligent.
Two local laws that still apply
California gives local government two options. Section 21107.8 lets a city, county, or city and county find by ordinance or resolution that named privately owned offstreet parking facilities are generally held open for public parking. On enactment, sections 22350, 23103 and 23109 and Division 16.5 apply there. The ordinance reaches a given lot only if the owner or operator has posted a conspicuous notice at each entrance stating that the facility is subject to public moving vehicle laws. The notice must be not less than 17 by 22 inches with lettering not less than one inch high.
Section 21107.5 is the companion for private roads. A city or county may declare that named privately owned and maintained roads, generally held open for public vehicular travel and connecting with highways so that the public cannot tell they are not highways, are subject to the code. The declaration does not apply where the owner posts a notice legible from 100 feet in daylight saying the road is private and not subject to public traffic control.
| Where it happened | Vehicle Code reach | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Public street or a public sidewalk | Full rules of the road | Veh. Code 21001, 360 |
| Driveway crossing a public sidewalk | Driver must yield to you | Veh. Code 21952, 555 |
| Vehicle leaving a lot onto the street | Driver must yield to traffic | Veh. Code 21804, 620 |
| Private lot with the posted 17 by 22 notice | Basic speed and reckless driving sections | Veh. Code 21107.8 |
| Private lot with no ordinance or notice | Ordinary negligence only | Civ. Code 1714, CACI 700 |
Most of these cases involve a driveway crossing a sidewalk or a vehicle leaving a lot onto the street. Section 21952 requires the driver of any motor vehicle, before driving over or upon any sidewalk, to yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian approaching on it, and section 555 makes the sidewalk part of the highway. Section 21804 then requires a driver about to enter or cross a highway from public or private property, or from an alley, to yield to all traffic close enough to be an immediate hazard. Under section 620, traffic includes pedestrians.
What the lot owner owed you
A second defendant is often the party that controls the lot. CACI No. 1001 states that a person who owns, leases, occupies or controls property is negligent if that person fails to use reasonable care to keep it in a reasonably safe condition. The owner must use reasonable care to discover unsafe conditions and to repair, replace or adequately warn of anything that could reasonably be expected to harm others. The instruction lists the factors a jury weighs. They include the likelihood that someone would come onto the property as you did, the likelihood and probable seriousness of harm, whether the owner knew or should have known of the condition, and the extent of its control.
- Sight lines. Hedges, column placement, oversized vehicles in spaces beside a pedestrian route, and signage that blocks the view of a crosswalk stripe.
- Lighting. Burned-out fixtures in a structure, or a stairwell exit that discharges into a drive aisle in the dark.
- Pedestrian routing. No marked walkway from the far row to the entrance, which forces every customer into the aisle a car reverses into.
- Traffic control on site. Missing stop bars, one-way arrows worn away, speed humps removed, or a drive-through lane crossing the front door path.
- Notice. Proof the owner knew or should have known: prior incidents at the same aisle, complaints, or a maintenance log showing the light was reported and left.
That second claim is a premises case with its own proof requirements, and our Los Angeles premises liability lawyer page covers how notice is established. Where the driver carries a minimum policy, the property owner is frequently the only meaningful source of recovery.
Proving a claim without a police report
Police often do not take a report for a collision on private property, and insurers treat that gap as an argument. A report is one form of evidence, an officer's conclusion binds nobody, and the sources that replace it are usually better.
| Evidence | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Store or garage camera footage | Written preservation request in the first days |
| The business incident report | Loss prevention or the manager on duty |
| Backup camera and event data | The vehicle, before it is repaired |
| Witness contact details | Other shoppers, valets, security, delivery drivers |
| Scene photographs | Resting positions, striping, sight lines, lighting |
Two practical points decide whether that evidence still exists. Retail systems commonly overwrite within about seven to thirty days and nobody preserves a clip for a claim they have not heard about, so the request has to name the date, the camera view and the time window. The property is under someone's control, which means the incident report, the maintenance log and the footage all live with a party who is also a potential defendant.
When the answer changes
Five variations come up often, and each moves the claim.
- You were struck while walking on the public sidewalk. That is not a private property case at all. Section 21952 applies directly, and the driver crossing the sidewalk owed you the right-of-way.
- The lot is publicly owned. A city, county, college or transit lot puts the claim on the six month government claim clock, whatever the surface looks like.
- You were working when it happened. A person struck in an employer's lot or a loading area starts with workers' compensation, with a separate case only against someone outside the employer.
- A valet or a rideshare driver was at the wheel. The employer, the valet company, or a commercial policy may respond, and the vehicle owner's coverage is not the only one to look for.
- The person struck was a child. Pickup lines and residential driveways produce these cases often, and our child pedestrian accidents page covers the standard of care and the court approval a minor's settlement requires.
A collision at an intersection is decided by right-of-way statutes and signal timing, which our crosswalk accidents page sets out. A collision in a lot is decided by attention, sight lines and who controlled the property. The evidence is different, the defendants are different, and we build the file that way from the first week.
No fee unless we recover.