Safety in the Parking Lot By Brenda Williams At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Parking lots are the number one places where people get into accidents. When I was a police officer, I couldn't even begin to tell you how many accident calls I had to go to that involved someone hitting someone else's car in a parking lot. In every single case where I had to respond to an accident in a parking lot, the person at fault simply wasn't paying attention and didn't notice that the other person was backing out at the same time.

Most of the accidents (if not all of the accidents) that people get into are wholly preventable. However, the accidents involved in parking lots typically include one person who is trying to back out of a parking space at the same time that another person is trying to back out of a parking space. In a few instances, I've had it where someone is parked in their parking space minding their own business when another person (who is backing out of their space) misjudges the distance between his or her car and the other parked car and hits the parked car! You wouldn't believe it!

One of the things to keep in mind if you are in a parking lot and are preparing to leave is eye contact. Eye contact is extremely important because it lets the other driver or pedestrian know that you see them. At this point one of you will typically be able to wave the other person on so that an accident can be avoided. Eye contact is also great because it lets you know when someone is not paying attention or doesn't see you. In that case, an accident may also be avoided. A perfect example of this is when you are trying to back out of a parking spot and see someone driving behind your car. You look at them and notice that they are looking in the opposite direction at something while they are continuing to drive. In that case, you would avoid an accident simply by remaining where you are.

Another important thing to remember when you are in a parking lot is to look in every direction quickly just prior to backing out of a space. When you are parked (or even if you are driving along a road), there are many blind spots around your vehicle. This is a large part of the reason that you shouldn't rely on your mirrors. Rather, physically turning your head will allow you to more accurately located any potential dangers around your vehicle that you need to be aware of. For example, one common mistake that I see all the time with drivers (especially when they are driving along a road and are preparing to make a turn) is that they will only look in one direction to see if there is any oncoming traffic, all the while continuing to make their turn without looking the other way to see if there is a pedestrian. There have been many accidents involving pedestrians and vehicles because of this. If you are pulling out of a parking space or are preparing to make a turn onto a roadway, make sure that you look both ways and share the roadway.

One of the common questions that I used to get from people who were upset because of accidents involved in parking lots was, “Don't I have the right of way since I was the one who was backing out of my space first?” Contrary to popular belief, the person who is backing out of parking space ALWAYS has to yield to any traffic that is driving in a straight line behind them. If you have two vehicles that are backing out of a space at the same time, however, the vehicle who is backing out first is the one who has the right of way to continue. A person who is backing out of a parking space is cutting into the main line of traffic in a parking lot (similar to someone who is driving a car and preparing to make a turn into traffic), and therefore- they must yield to the traffic that is already in motion. However, you will often see someone (who has the right of way) yield to someone who is backing out of a parking space because a) the person backing out isn't paying attention or b) the person who has the right of way is waiting to take the parking space.

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