Finding parking in designated parking lots can be an impossible task especially in peak hours on business days. You may drive around in circles for minutes without finding a spot. Some motorists may avoid the headache because they have assigned parking spots. But how safe is your vehicle after you have exited, especially if you have parked in a location with a PARK AT YOUR OWN RISK disclaimer? What does that really mean?
Attorney –At-Law Taneshia Griffiths, explained that, “The sign, Park AT Your Own Risk is an exclusion clause in the Law of contract. An exclusion clause is usually written down that says that one party to the contract will not be responsible for certain happenings.” She further explained, “This means if you arrange to park your car in a car park, the owner will seek to include in the contract a provision that they will not be responsible for damage to your vehicle or theft of goods from it while it is in the car park.” She advised that if such a person does not cooperate it should be reported to the police. When quizzed if displaying such signs absolves the owners of businesses or car parks from liability for vehicles parked on their compound, she responded, “Under the Consumer Protection Act, it is not permissible to exclude or restrict liability by giving notice if it results from the occupier’s negligence. Hence the display of the sign ‘Park At Your Own Risk’ is not an end in itself.”
Meanwhile, Attorney-At-Law Kenyatta Powell argued that any absolution from liability is unlikely. “The courts apply the “contra proferentem” interpretative tool when dealing with exclusion clauses.
This simply means that when construing any exclusion, the court will interpret in a way that is least favourable to the party attempting to rely on it. This is particularly the case where, as with ‘park at your risk signs,’ the party relying on the exclusion is trying to say that it should be exempted completely from liability,” Surely, you are now asking yourselves if legal action can be taken against a proprietor if a vehicle is damaged and or stolen while parked at a lot operated by him or her.
The answer is Yes. Powell explained that, “The owner can take legal action. The clause seeks to exclude liability of the operator of the parking lot. It can’t operate to prevent the owner from actually filing suit in Court. Once the suit is filed, it is for the court to decide whether the liability has actually been excluded.”
To Read More: Purchase your copy of Volume 9 #2– May – June 2017