Jefferson v. Qwik Korner Market, Inc.

Opinion

SILLS, J.

May a convenience store, with a parking lot design typical of the vast majority of such businesses, be held liable when a third party negligently drives his car over a concrete wheelstop and curb, onto the storefront sidewalk injuring a pedestrian? When there is nothing requiring customers to stand in a fixed location adjacent to the parking area, and when there have been no prior such accidents, the answer is, “No.”

I

The basic facts are undisputed. In front of the Qwik Korner Market in Orange is a sidewalk, six feet wide, with a raised curb exceeding six inches. Marked spaces…