225 E Chestnut St

Mifflinburg PA 17844

570-966-3145

  

 

  

  

57 Reitz Blvd Ste 101 Lewisburg PA 17837

570-524-4200

  

  

  

You have just turned off a traffic-congested street and into a relative calm of a parking lot.  Time to relax, right?  Not really.  It's actually time to be extra alert.  There's a whole lot more than parking happening in parking lots.  Dodging near misses, getting cut off, searching for a spot, fretting about cars and carts dinging your vehicle.  Parking lots can be stressful places.  And a parking lot accident is often the worst fear of all.  Twenty percent of all accidents happen in parking lots, according to the Institute for Highway Safety.  Though these low speed collisions are rarely serious, they can be costly, time consuming and aggravating.  Protect yourself and your vehicle by following these tips.  

  

Parking lots are filled with obstacles and hazards, but often the biggest danger is other drivers may cut across empty rows, drive too fast or ignore signs and pavement markings, endangering everyone in the lot.  The best way to deal with these drivers is simple: Slow Down.  This brings you time to react and avoid a collision.  Be especially cautious when turning corners and backing up.

Parking lots are full of people coming from and going to their cars.  Though pedestrians may not be looking out for you, it's still your responsibility to look out for them.  Keep an eye out for any pedestrians who may cross your vehicle's path and be sure to obey all crosswalks within the parking lot.  Anticipate pedestrians even if you don't see any.  If you are in a busy shopping area, remember that people lugging sacks of groceries or other purchases could also have hard-to-see children with them too.

Door dings and scratches are aggravating and hard to avoid.  No matter how courteous and conscientious you are when parking, you can fall victim to someone else's carelessness.  One way to reduce the risk of door damage is to park away from other vehicles.  This may be inconvenient, but considerably more polite than parking your vehicle across several spaces to keep others from parking near you.  And the extra walking is good exercise.

Backing out of a parking spot is no fun.  You are turning side to side, checking mirrors, moving real slowly, trying to size up how far away your car is from the next one.  It's an awkward three, four, five-point turn, as you twist your spine up, scrape your tires, dent someone's fender up and narrowly avoid hitting a baby in a stroller.  So take no chances and go for the parking lot pull through.  A classic parking move that lets you drive right in and drive right out.

  

 Of course accidents can still happen no matter how cautious you are.  That's why it's important to have collision insurance, which covers damage your car sustains whether it's your fault or not.  That means you're covered whether you accidentally crash into a lamppost or if your parked car is majorly dinged.