When people hear the word ‘accident,’ they often relate it to a tragedy that’s occurred on a busy road like a highway or a congested street. However, you need to be aware that accidents may also happen in parking lots. Even though the chances of the accident being serious are minimal in this instance, especially if you’re at low speed, they can take a toll on you.
The reason is that you’ll spend a lot of time trying to solve the case with the other party, especially if you’ve hit a person, a motorist, or a car. Moreover, you’ll have to incur costs to fix any dent or damage to your vehicle, if any, and you may not have insurance coverage.
Therefore, to save yourself from such frustrations, you can go here and check out some wheel stops to help you when parking. Other ways to prevent parking lot accidents include:
1. Try Driving Slowly
The thing you ought to avoid doing in parking lots is driving recklessly. You might be in a hurry, probably because you’re late for a meeting or something, but that doesn’t justify driving hastily in the parking lot. It’s important to remember that small kids could be running around the area or even motorists riding at high speed.
Therefore, no matter what others are doing, always remember that car parks aren’t made for high-speed driving. It would be best if you maintained a speed of five miles per hour or less when looking for a parking space in the car park or when leaving. Also, it would help if you were extra cautious when backing up or negotiating corners. That way, you’ll reduce the possibility of accidents happening.
2. Try Parking In An Area With Less Traffic
If the parking lot is spacious and many parking slots are available, it’s not a must for you to park near other vehicles. You can decide to go a little further away from other cars. It will help you avoid competition, and you’ll be in a better place when reversing or backing up.
The reason is that you’ll have a clearer vision of all your surroundings, unlike when you’ve parked amidst several vehicles. Moreover, it’ll be easier for you to notice if there are any obstacles like large stones in the parking lot and avoid them.
Additionally, parking in an area with less traffic also gives you the leeway to exit easily, unlike parking amidst many cars. That is because you’ll have to wait for the vehicle in front of you to leave first. Thus, it’s more convenient to park where there are fewer cars.
3. Don’t Forget To Use The Turn Signals
The essence of going to driving school is to understand all the nitty-gritty details of driving a car, like knowing the importance of using all the signals while on the road. Ignorance is the cause of many misfortunes, and it’s unfair to put other people’s lives in danger.
You’d not want to get to a car park, and the vehicle in front of you turns impromptu without giving you any signal. It can scare you and even cause you to hit them unintentionally because you didn’t expect that sudden turn.
Therefore, you can lead by example since you wouldn’t want to have such an experience. Thus, you must use the turn signal lever to indicate your intentions, whether you’re turning to the left or the right.
That way, the person behind you will slow down and wait for you to move before they proceed to their parking spot. It is an excellent way of preventing parking lot accidents.
4. Avoid Any Destructions
When driving, you should avoid any obstructions that might make you lose focus, especially when parking your car. Some of the common distractions include:
- The person on the passenger seat trying to engage you in a conversation
- Chatting using your phone
- Looking at the items you’ve written in your shopping list
- Listening and dancing to loud music
- Drinking tea or coffee from your tumbler
- Checking on the people (most probably kids) who’re seated in the back seat
- Having a phone call
- Vlogging while driving
- Taking photos
- Grooming
- Watching videos
These and other things can cause you to pay little attention to what’s happening outside your car. Thus, you may likely hit another vehicle, motorcycle, pole, or pedestrian. So, what you need to do is to make all these things wait until you’ve successfully parked your car. After that, you can dress, check your shopping list, and do everything you want.
If possible, also avoid having full-blast music volume in your car. Try and moderate it so that you can hear whatever’s happening outside. If you have kids in the back seat, ensure that they have their seat belts on, and give them story books to read while you’re driving.
You can also give them a phone to watch their favorite cartoon or animation. That’ll help your kids settle, thus reducing their chances of doing anything like playing in the car, which can obstruct you. Such strategies will help prevent parking lot accidents.
5. Use The Technological Features
Since the world has gone digital, it’ll be best to use your car’s latest safety features to your advantage. Sometimes you may find that you’re so accustomed to the old way of doing things that you forget to embrace technology.
However, this shouldn’t be the case, especially when using vehicles. Try and at least embrace the modern changes. You can now park with more ease since modern cars have been equipped with auto devices like:
- Motion detectors
- Backup cameras
- Parking assist systems
- Cross-traffic alerts
These technological features can benefit anyone parking and play a key role in preventing parking lot accidents.
Conclusion
When you’re reckless and driving at a high speed in the parking lot, you can cause a lot of accidents. Thus, you must be careful to avoid endangering the lives and property of others. Some ways you can do this include using turn signals, preventing obstructions, and embracing new technological advancements.
Also, it would help if you drove at a slow speed as you tried to look for a parking spot. Remember that it’s always good to be careful. That way, you’ll be able to support the global cause of preventing accidents in car parks.
