6 Tips To Prevent Parking Lot Accidents
Parking lots aren’t entirely safe from being the venue of accidents. With so many cars going in and out, there’s bound to be a mishap anytime. While most responsible drivers know how to circumvent an accident, their location sometimes won’t help. Thus, as a business owner with a parking lot near their workplace, this can spell legal trouble.
Fortunately, accidents in a parking lot are pretty preventable. You’ll need careful planning to ensure your car park is secure for everyone, including yourself. If you want more tips to keep every car and driver safe, continue reading this article.
Most parking lots only use straight lines made with white paint to mark boundaries and spaces for cars. Despite this being acceptable, some drivers overestimate how much of that space they can use. Hence, it’s not rare to see a couple of vehicles going over the boundary lines. But those protruding bumpers are often the cause of parking accidents, which could’ve been prevented if there were something to keep the cars parked in the space they’re in.
This is where wheel stops, like Image Extra solutions, come into play. They have a wide variety of materials, including metal, rubber, and concrete. In addition, each has a different size, some being sturdy enough to stop large vehicles, such as trucks, from going over a parking line.
Wheel stops are wise investments since you’ll only need one per parking slot. They don’t take up much room and will help drivers know when they’ve parked their car enough in their chosen space.
- Install A Proper Drainage System
Whether or not the area is prone to flooding, your parking lot can become hazardous if rainwater accumulates. The same goes for ice on the tarmac, which, melted or otherwise, can attract accidents left and right.
Your parking lot should have a working drainage system to ensure the water has somewhere to go. If the area is outdoors, the channels can be at the outer sides of the parking lot but preferably not near pedestrian walks. This is to prevent passersby from slipping.
Installing drainage systems for multi-story and underground car parks is slightly more challenging. You’ll have to consider vehicle weights and installation depth restrictions. Corrosive elements have a role in damaging the system too. Thus, whether the parking space is outdoors or indoors, the drainage channels must be durable, corrosion-resistant, and regularly kept clean.
- Repair Uneven Surfaces And Cover Potholes
No car owner enjoys driving their vehicle over humps, dips, and cracks on the road. Potholes aren’t only inconvenient; they’re a possible cause of a severe mishap that may occur. Anyone who could get injured from the accident might place the blame on you. So, if your parking lot has an uneven surface, you must repair this immediately.
You can temporarily place markers near potholes to alert drivers if you can’t fill them as soon as possible. They’ll avoid parking or driving toward the spots until they’re fully fixed.
Heavy traffic and water are the primary reasons for potholes forming on roads. Therefore, having a proper drainage system also helps avoid excessive moisture accumulations in your parking lot.
- Set Up Directional Signages
Outdoor parking lots and indoor car packs have something in common: They can be confusing to navigate through. It gets worse if cars can only go one way. Parking lot accidents could happen because vehicles come from different directions and may crash into each other. Moreover, people pass by from leaving their cars or returning to them, which can pose a danger if vehicles don’t know where to turn.
To mitigate this issue, put arrows on the road using slip-resistant paint to guide drivers through the parking lot. Additionally, you may install signs on posts to mark where the entrance and exit points are. 
- Maintain The Lot Regularly
As with any public or private space, proper and regular maintenance ensures a parking lot’s cleanliness and safety. Pieces of trash can be an obstacle, especially if they’re bigger than crumpled paper. Thus, it’s best to have trash cans nearby to discourage pedestrians from littering the area.
Furthermore, it’s vital to salt the roads if covered in ice to hasten the melting process. The water should go down the drains as long as you’ve cleared debris to keep them from clogging.
Aside from that, the lights surrounding the parking lot must have working bulbs. As soon as you spot one flickering incessantly, it’s time to replace it.
- Keep The Parking Lot Well-Lighted
Proper lighting is essential in a parking lot at night. Several vehicular accidents often occur because a driver or a pedestrian aren’t able to see where they’re going. You can prevent this kind of incident from happening by putting enough bright lights in and around the parking lot.
Likewise, installing security cameras may help on your end in case an accident does happen. People tend to put others at fault to avoid punishment. But if you have video proof of the event, the person responsible is less likely to run free. High-definition CCTV cameras should do the trick. Maybe one day, license plate readers will become a thing as well, making it easier to mark the cars responsible for accidents.
Make The Effort To Keep Parking Lots Safe
For many people, cars are significant investments. On the other hand, human lives are priceless. You can get a new vehicle but can’t replace another person. As such, every driver wants to park somewhere that ensures their physical safety and that of their car. And they can only get that from a properly maintained parking lot with the necessary features that will help prevent an accident from ever occurring.