And how waiting for “some time later” could cost you big.
Picture this: A property manager thinks they’ll “get around” to checking the lot next quarter or after the busy season. Fast-forward: a tenant or visitor trips, fractures a leg, files suit—and suddenly you’re not dealing with a few hundred dollars in crack sealing but a multi-million dollar document file that eats your bottom line, your reputation, and your peace of mind.
That’s exactly what happened in a recent high-profile case. A 44-year-old woman in Florida walked across the lot at a major retailer, near a landscaping island, stepped onto an uneven surface (where asphalt met concrete gutter), twisted her ankle, fell and shattered multiple bones. She sued the retailer and the property owner, and an Orange County jury awarded $11.39 million in damages, finding the property 90% at fault. CBS News+3WFTV+3https://www.wlbt.com+3
The takeaway? Your parking lot is not-just pavement. It’s a safety zone, a part of your asset, a liability vector, and it deserves as much strategy, inspection and repair budgeting as your building façade or HVAC.
A Florida jury recently awarded $11.4 million to a woman who tripped and fell in a Target parking lot after stepping onto an uneven surface near a curb.
The verdict shocked property owners nationwide — and for good reason.
The jury found Target 90% at fault for failing to maintain a safe walking surface.
What started as a minor elevation change between asphalt and concrete became a life-altering injury… and a legal precedent that will echo across the country.
(Source: WFTV.com, People.com)
This case didn’t just punish one retailer — it changed the standard of care for every commercial property in America.
Here’s what it means going forward:
Courts and juries now see parking-lot hazards as serious safety failures, not minor maintenance issues.
Any visible crack, hole, or elevation change can be argued as “a known hazard.”
If you should have known about it — and didn’t fix it — you can be held liable.
The “should-have-known” doctrine means you’re expected to inspect regularly.
If a defect was visible for months and your maintenance records don’t show inspections or repairs, a plaintiff’s attorney will argue neglect.
This verdict was headline news.
And, as you might expect, online comment sections were full of sarcasm — “Heading to Target to trip and retire early” — showing how the public now sees these suits as easy money opportunities.
Whether or not you believe in “professional plaintiffs,” one thing is certain:
Opportunists follow big verdicts.
When your property becomes the next headline, the cost is no joke.
Expect higher premiums, more detailed risk assessments, and possible inspection requirements for properties with parking-lot defects or deferred maintenance.
This verdict sets a powerful precedent that plaintiff attorneys will now cite nationwide:
Premises Liability: Property owners must maintain safe surfaces for the public.
Negligence by Omission: Failure to inspect = failure to act.
Comparative Fault: Even if a visitor shares some blame, owners will carry the lion’s share.
Code Violations: Any deviation from ADA slope, elevation, or drainage standards is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
This isn’t just one case — it’s new ammunition for trip-and-fall lawsuits across every commercial sector.
Let’s put this in perspective:
| Scenario | Cost Today | Cost Later |
|---|---|---|
| Crack sealing small cracks | $2,500–$3,500 | Full-depth patch or repave: $5,000–$8,000 |
| Fixing a collapsed storm drain | $3,500 - $5,000 | Further damaged + extensive rebuild: $25,000+ |
| Slip-and-fall injury claim | $0 (prevented) | $11,000,000 verdict (real case) |
Waiting until “next season” is no longer an option.
In today’s climate, neglect is expensive.
Here’s the good news — this verdict doesn’t just serve as a warning; it also shows how easy it is to stay out of trouble when you have a system in place.
You don’t need to be a lawyer or engineer to protect your property.
You just need a structured, documented inspection plan — and that’s where a quarterly pavement inspection program comes in.
A documented quarterly inspection program demonstrates due diligence.
If an incident occurs, your reports become your shield in court.
They show:
You maintain your lot regularly.
You act promptly when issues are found.
You’re not negligent — you’re proactive.
A 10-minute inspection can save thousands later.
FixAsphalt’s quarterly program helps you identify and repair:
Cracks before they spread.
Drainage issues before they undermine pavement.
Uneven surfaces before someone trips.
Quarterly inspections turn chaos into consistency.
You can forecast costs, control your budget, and document value for owners and insurers.
It’s not “extra expense” — it’s risk insurance you control.
Every inspection produces a timestamped report with photos, recommendations, and repair documentation.
If a claim arises, you can show: “Here’s proof we inspected, maintained, and repaired.”
That single folder can save you millions.
When tenants see you proactively managing the lot, they view you as a professional.
You’re not reacting — you’re protecting their customers.
It reflects well on your entire property management operation.
Our Quarterly Pavement Inspection & Repair Program takes the stress out of compliance:
✅ Automatic quarterly site visits
✅ Photo-based inspection reports
✅ Same-day patching & crack sealing
✅ Priority scheduling
✅ Annual summary for your risk file
It’s simple. Predictable. And it keeps you out of the headlines.
This $11.4 million verdict is a wake-up call — but also a roadmap.
It teaches every property manager, facility manager, and building owner that proactive maintenance is your best defense.
You can’t prevent every accident, but you can prove you did everything reasonable to prevent one — and that’s what matters in court.
If you want to protect your property, your budget, and your peace of mind, it’s time to make pavement inspections part of your safety culture.
Want to learn more?
👉 Schedule a Quarterly Parking Lot Inspection
👉 See Our Commercial Pavement Repair Services
👉 Read More FixAsphalt Field Notes
Downtime & disruption: Bigger repairs mean more disruption—closing sections of the lot, signage, alternate parking, and potential tenant inconvenience.
Here’s a sample framework you could adopt or pitch to your commercial property clients:
Quarterly inspection (every 3 months) walk-through of the lot with a comprehensive checklist:
Crack widths, lengths, locations
Heaving, slab edge deterioration
Drainage/ponding issues
Curb/landscape island joint issues
Striping faded or missing
Edge decay, joint failures
Sealant condition, expansion joint issues
Inspection report delivered within 48 hours: photos + issue inventory + categorization:
Repair Now (trigger)
Monitor/Repair Soon
Immediate repair trigger: For any “Repair Now” items, you commit to scheduling repair within X days (typically 24-72 hrs) at pre-agreed unit cost or hourly rate.
Carry-forward list & budget: For “Monitor” items, you track them, log when they escalate, plan budget ahead of next quarter.
Annual retainer/fee: Inspection service has a fixed annual fee (or quarterly retainer). Repairs triggered are billed at known rates—so the property manager knows the predictable portion plus the variable repair portion.
Documentation archive: Inspection logs + photos + repair records become part of your risk-management file, useful for insurance, audits, lease turnover or when you sell the property.
Value messaging: You can say to your tenant or client: “We’re not waiting for failure. We’re detecting and repairing proactively so you stay safe, compliant and your asset value is protected.”
If you manage a commercial parking lot—retail, office, multifamily, mixed-use—don’t treat the asphalt like an afterthought. It’s part of your property, part of your risk profile, part of your brand.
By committing to:
Quarterly inspections, and
Prompt repair of identified hazards,
you are taking control of that asset rather than being reactive.
You’ll avoid surprise costs, you’ll build a defensible maintenance program, and you’ll reduce your exposure to lawsuits, tenant complaints, or large-scale repair bills.
If you like, I can format this post for your website (with SEO titles, meta descriptions, suggested image placements, alt-text) and pull inspection form templates you can offer as lead magnets for your commercial property-manager audience. Would you like me to put that together?
If you already have pictures or a short video of the problem area — whether it’s a pothole, drainage issue, cracked catch basin, or failing pavement section — you can get help even faster.
Simply click the yellow "Instant Quote-Upload Photos" button to the right and upload your files directly to our team. Within 30 minutes or less, one of our pavement specialists will review your photos, evaluate the scope of work, and send you a fast, accurate quote — no site visit needed.
📸 Upload. Review. Quote — all in under 30 minutes.
It’s the quickest way to find out what’s really going on with your pavement and how much it will cost to fix it — from the experts who do it right the first time.