Every day we drive out of a garage in our own car or walk past it as pedestrians.

Based on a recent decision of the Supreme Court of 16.05.2017, GZ 2 Ob 59/17s, pedestrians and drivers must take care when crossing or leaving a garage driveway.

A female driver drove out of an underground parking garage, stopped her vehicle in front of the sidewalk running perpendicular to the exit and observed the traffic crossing because she wanted to turn right. In the meantime, a pedestrian came along the sidewalk from the right and the pedestrian stopped in front of the underground parking garage exit. The two road users (pedestrian and driver) noticed each other. When the driver turned right, the pedestrian turned left and drove off. During this turning maneuver, the car driver knocked down the pedestrian, who had started walking again in the meantime. The pedestrian was injured and claimed compensation for pain and suffering.

Due to the unclear traffic situation, the first and second instances assumed that the pedestrian and the driver were equally at fault.

However, the Supreme Court denied contributory negligence on the part of the pedestrian. “The previous decisions on which the Court of Appeal based the contributory negligence of the motorist concerned accidents with pedestrians that had occurred on the roadway dedicated to vehicle traffic. Here, however, the pedestrian had “priority” over the car driver on the sidewalk dedicated to pedestrian traffic. After the car driver stopped, the pedestrian was therefore entitled to trust that the car driver would let her pass and start walking again .” The inattentive driver was therefore solely at fault for the accident.