{"id":4374,"date":"2024-01-24T05:39:50","date_gmt":"2024-01-24T10:39:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whytewalterslaw.com\/?p=4374"},"modified":"2024-01-24T05:39:50","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T10:39:50","slug":"park-and-pray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whytewalterslaw.com\/park-and-pray\/","title":{"rendered":"Park and Pray"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sandra\u00a0<\/strong>Montgomery is still hanging on to hope that she will find her motor car, which was stolen from its parked position at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) in Papine, St Andrew, just over two months ago.<\/strong><\/p>

But even as she yearns for the recovery of her property, Montgomery remains furious at the indifference with which security guards at the hospital\u2019s main gate greeted her complaint of the theft on Friday, October 20.<\/p>

The fact, too, that the security guards repeatedly did not follow the vehicle exit protocol established by the hospital has made matters worse.<\/p>

Montgomery told the Jamaica Observer<\/strong> that she had taken her mother to the Accident and Emergency Department at approximately 7:00 am on the day and had received a hospital vehicle pass from one of the security guards.<\/p>

\u201cI parked my vehicle a few blocks, maybe five, six cars down from Accident and Emergency, so it wasn\u2019t anywhere far out, and I spent the entire day in the hospital. When I approached where I had parked my vehicle about 7:30 in the evening, I didn\u2019t see the vehicle,\u201d she said.<\/p>

\u201cI went to the security guard and I was explaining that I have the parking ticket and my vehicle is not where I parked it and he just casually brushed it off and said that is every day these things happen here,\u201d she told the\u00a0Sunday Observer<\/strong>.<\/p>

Expressing disbelief, Montgomery said she queried how could it be possible for someone to exit the premises with her vehicle when she still had her vehicle pass.<\/p>

\u201cThe security told me that if somebody approached them and said they lose their parking ticket, which people do, they would just charge them $500 and they allow them to leave the compound,\u201d Montgomery related.<\/p>

\u201cWhat got me so annoyed was that they were acting so casual, like it\u2019s nothing, and when I went and I spoke to another security lady on the compound she asked me why mi never come out of the hospital to check on my vehicle,\u201d Montgomery said, unable to hide her frustration.<\/p>

She said that she called her daughter to pick her up and when they were leaving they decided to test the system by telling the security guard that her daughter did not have a hospital vehicle pass. The guard, Montgomery said, allowed them to leave without even checking to establish the ownership of the motor car.<\/p>

However, according to UHWI Public Relations Officer Nordia Francis-Williams, the hospital has a protocol in situations where drivers are trying to exit without the vehicle pass.<\/p>

\u201cThe security guard should first take the vehicle out of the line of traffic, politely ask the driver to check his or her vehicle properly, then proceed to ask for their vehicle documents and driver\u2019s licence to verify that the person is the legitimate owner,\u201d Francis-Williams told the Sunday Observer<\/strong>.<\/p>

\u201cThe security should then log the information in a log book, capturing name, TRN, vehicle owner, and other particulars, then the person should be given an opportunity to pay the $500 fine at the nearest cashier and after verification of payment the person can proceed thereafter to exit the hospital,\u201d she explained.<\/p>

Francis-Williams said that if the driver refuses to produce his\/her licence and vehicle documents, the security guards have been advised to call the police.<\/p>

She expressed disappointment at the manner in which the security guards responded to Montgomery, saying that they must always have a positive duty-of-care attitude towards clients.<\/p>

\u201cThe operations management team has spoken to the on-site management team for the security services provider to give the team some guidance on empathy for our clients, staff, and visitors that are exposed to such situations of vehicle theft,\u201d Francis-Williams said.<\/p>

She also said that the hospital has implemented measures to address vehicle theft. They include increased security presence, strategic placement of barriers and chains in car parks, and heightened patrolling by both armed and unarmed personnel.<\/p>

\u201cThe engineering and maintenance team has started preparing the scope of work documentation to build a strong ICT infrastructure at the hospital to prepare to install high-quality surveillance cameras and to supply and install smart video solution systems at strategic locations,\u201d she added.<\/p>

However, the measures appear not to be fully effective as on Friday when the Sunday Observer<\/strong> visited the hospital a woman told the newspaper that just last week a motor vehicle owned by a policeman was stolen from the compound.<\/p>

\u201cA whole heap a foolishness a gwaan over there; is like the security dem a sleep,\u201d she said, adding that motor vehicle theft is common at the hospital.<\/p>

A man, who said he recently took a sick relative to UHWI, told the Sunday Observer<\/strong> that he knows of instances of vehicle theft from the hospital.<\/p>

\u201cI had to go there with my cousin, and although the guards gave me the parking ticket, I felt uneasy because I was there for a long time. I jus\u2019 prayed that my car wasn\u2019t stolen. I was lucky,\u201d he said.<\/p>

The matter of whether the hospital has any liability was put to attorney-at-law Andria Whyte Walters. She told the Sunday Observer <\/strong>that it would be unlikely that Montgomery is successful in any claim in court against both the security company and the hospital.<\/p>

\u201cUnder the Occupiers Liability Act, unless there exists a special relationship there is no duty on the occupier to protect the goods from theft or damage by a third party,\u201d said Whyte Walters, founder and principal of Whyte Walters Law.<\/p>

\u201cI know that it sounds bad; you park your vehicle, you get a ticket, and you lock up and you go about your business and when you return either you notice the vehicle is crashed, dented or even worse, it is stolen. But the issue is, does the act of them giving you a ticket give rise to a special relationship,\u201d she said.<\/p>

Whyte Walters referred to a 2015 Supreme Court case with similar facts (Lascelle Samms and Jillian Samms v Main Investments Limited and Milex Security Services Limited) noting that the court found that the complainant had physical control of the vehicle because she did not hand over the key to the security guards which would create that special relationship that would allow them to have a duty of care to protect the vehicle.<\/p>

\u201cI understand she felt the motor vehicle would be reasonably safe due to the presence of the security guards, but is there any contractual relationship between the lady and UHWI that would give rise to a duty to be owed? I would argue no, especially with the signs saying to park at your own risk. Neither the security company nor UHWI would have any duty to guard against the risk of theft because she retained the possession and custody of her vehicle, she did not hand over the key to them and say, \u2018Listen, I am giving you my car, it is your duty to make sure it\u2019s safe\u2019. So based on the Supreme Court decision, I would say park at your own risk,\u201d Whyte Walters said.<\/p>

\u201cI recommend that she retains the services of an attorney-at-law and let them write to the insurance company and see if she can get any relief on that end, depending on the type of insurance policy that she has,\u201d Whyte Walters advised.<\/p>

Last week, Montgomery told the\u00a0Sunday Observer<\/strong>\u00a0that she had reported the theft to her insurance company but is still awaiting word from the firm.<\/p>

At the same time, she said she has not lost hope of finding her white Toyota Noah.<\/p>

\u201cEvery day I am on the road looking out for it. I am also still awaiting updates from the hospital and the police regarding the vehicle.\u201d<\/p>

Source: https:\/\/www.jamaicaobserver.com\/2023\/12\/31\/park-and-pray\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sandra\u00a0Montgomery is still hanging on to hope that she will find her motor car, which was stolen from its parked position at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) in Papine, St Andrew, just over two months ago. But even as she yearns for the recovery of her property, Montgomery remains furious at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4375,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whytewalterslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whytewalterslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whytewalterslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whytewalterslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whytewalterslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/whytewalterslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whytewalterslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whytewalterslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whytewalterslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whytewalterslaw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}