What can I do if I was in the drive-thru line at a fast food restaurant this morning and another driver rolled into me right after I had come to a complete stop?
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What can I do if I was in the drive-thru line at a fast food restaurant this morning and another driver rolled into me right after I had come to a complete stop?
We got out and looked at everything but I was too nice to really get angry. Anyway, I’m sure the footage is on security cameras. Now it is 45 minutes after the fact and I want to know if I can report this and possibly bring the company to court for improper drive-thru markings?
Asked on May 26, 2015 under Accident Law, Oklahoma
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 9 years ago | Contributor
You can always report it (e.g. file a police report). As to suing the company, that is VERY unlikely that you could do it successfully:
1) You'd have to show that the drive-thru markings are unreasonably careless--basically, that no reasonable person would mark the drive-thru that way.
2) You'd have to show that it was the markings and not, for example, the carelessness of the driver behind (e.g. that he/she didn't stop in time or wasn't paying attention) that caused the accident.
It is highly unlikely that you can do these things. And even if you could, you can only sue for an amount of money equal to your damages, costs, and medical bills. Unless those are several thousand dollars, you'd likely spend more on the lawsuit (you'd need to get some sort of roadway or drive-thru expert to testify about drive-thru design, and such experts do not work cheap) than you would get.
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