Turns out that the oddest part of what happens at Walmart might be what happens in the parking lot. I’m Amy E. Feldman.
In the parking lot of the Walmart in Osceola, Arkansas, stands a pole. Or, more accurately, usually leans a pole. The pole is meant to guide traffic so people coming out of the drive through don’t hit parked cars. For some reason, so many people have crashed into the pole that it has its own Facebook page, and now people come to take photos with the pole. One wonders if any of the photographers are lawyers trying to get evidence for a lawsuit.
If a landowner is aware of a dangerous condition on its property, it’s legally obligated to fix it and is liable if anyone gets hurt because of it. But there is an exception—if the dangerous condition is open and obvious, the landowner is not liable or may be less liable if someone doesn’t avoid the danger. To the extent the pole is such a well-known accident waiting to happen it has its own Facebook page, Walmart would not be able to argue that it doesn’t know about the dangerous condition—but neither would the person or people who drove into it.
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