Massachusetts Personal Injury Library
How to Build a Personal Injury/Negligence at ATMs Case (Part A)
If security negligence at ATMs is responsible for your personal injury from a violent crime, call an attorney in your area. Many crime victims today are seeking reparation from the bank or property owner that owns the cash machine. It’s a given that opportunists will rob victims who are the most likely to have cash in the least visible areas. Certain automated teller machines provide everything a criminal needs.
In order to build a personal injury/negligence case, you must be able to prove several elements.
How to prove personal injury/negligence:
- That a duty of care for your personal safety was owed to you;
- That the duty went unfulfilled by the party responsible for the ATM;
- That you were injured as a result; and
- That you incurred financial, physical and/or emotional damage.
It is the second of these criteria that a premises liability lawyer will focus on in order to make a case that the court will agree to hear. This will depend largely on the specific state laws in place regarding ATM security at the time. Proving that the duty of care was breached shows that the bank or machine contractor was negligent in safeguarding human life and limb.
In every state, premises liability theory affirms that a duty exists between a business owner and patrons who enter business property. No matter where an ATM is located-whether at a bank, convenience store, restaurant or elsewhere-the property owner must exercise due care in securing the premises. In the case of automated teller machines, which exist solely for customer convenience, security options cannot impinge on access to rightful users. So both parties have rights.
In other words, state laws cannot insist on security barriers that keep everyone out of the area, or ATMs cannot perform their functions. They cannot require banks to post armed guards to apprehend criminals, but they can demand the prevention of criminal activity. So most states have created a level of minimum security requirements that preserves convenient access while deterring crime.
If you or a loved one has been the victim of a crime while at an ATM in Boston, Massachusetts, you should consult with a personal injury attorney that specializes in premises liability cases. It is important that the lawyer has handled these types of cases and that the attorney understands premises security issues.
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