While you’re behind the wheel or walking through a parking area, it’s important to be just as alert as you would be on a main road.
In fact, according to the National Safety Council (NSC), more than 50,000 crashes take place in parking lots and garages each year. These happen because of most people have common misconceptions about parking-related accidents, such as:
There wouldn’t be any injuries
Even if you aren’t pumping your gas pedal, low-speed fender benders can still cause injuries. Of the 50,000 annual parking lot accidents estimated, NSC projects that nearly 60,000 injuries and 500 deaths result from these incidents.
Walking with caution is just as important, as NSC reports that more than 11,000 pedestrians suffered serious injuries in distracted walking incidents between 2001 and 2011.
There’s no traffic in a parking lot!
Parking lots aren’t as busy as major highways during rush hour, but they still carry their own kind of traffic. An INRIX study found that not only does searching for parking take a lot of time for U.S. drivers – 17 hours per year – but it also leads to road rage many drivers experience in regular traffic.
About two-thirds of the surveyed American drivers said finding parking leaves them stressed. A quarter of drivers said they experience road rage during the hunt for parking. In turn, stress and road rage can lead to distracted driving accidents.
I don’t need to pay attention here
Slow driving still requires your undivided attention, as your cell phone or in-car technology can cause a crash. In an NSC-guided poll, the majority of drivers admitted to using technology while driving through parking lots – 63% of poll takers said they program their GPS and 52% said they use social media while driving through parking lots.
Accidents can happen anywhere
Car accidents happen every day, especially in common places like parking lots and garages.
You should implement taking distracted driving precautions from the moment you start your car until you reach your destination to prevent parking lot and garage accidents.