When you think about parking lot safety, what’s the first thing you think of? Do you think about keeping individuals safe as they walk to their cars at night? Do you think about ensuring all traffic moves in the right direction to avoid accidents?
There are several parking lot safety tips to ensure that you can do all of this and more!
Whether you own a business with a parking lot or own a plaza with an attached parking lot, it’s your duty to ensure that it’s kept safe at all times. Proper parking lot safety includes keeping accidents at a minimum and pedestrian incidents at a minimum as well. Keeping your parking lot safe without the proper safety precautions in place can be difficult.
To learn about all the different ways you can keep your parking lot as safe as possible, continue reading below. Here is everything you need to know to do just that!
1. Provide Crosswalks
Even if you don’t have a lot of pedestrians walking in and out of the parking lot, you should provide enough crosswalks. Crosswalks ensure that everyone can walk to and from their cars with ease. Cars will also be aware of crosswalk areas and know to slow down.
To provide even more safety, you can consider adding lights at your crosswalk stations and buttons if you’re parking lot is busier than most. When the crosswalk light is flashing, cars will know to slow down and allow pedestrians to cross over.
2. Install Sidewalks and Parking Lot Aisles
Sidewalks are another beneficial safety feature to have in your parking lot. Sidewalks should be installed on the outside of the parking lot and within the parking lot as well. Sidewalk parking lot aisles provide pedestrians with a pathway to get to their cars and to the place of business without having to worry about walking through the cars.
Without parking lot aisles and sidewalks, pedestrians will have to walk through and behind cars. When this happens, you raise the potential of cars hitting pedestrians. This might not be the pedestrians’ or cars’ fault.
If pedestrians don’t have any other way to get to their cars other than walking through the other cars and if the cars can’t see well when backing up, then everyone is in danger.
3. Maintain the Pavement
Maintaining the pavement in the parking lot is also just as important. If the pavement isn’t maintained, you put pedestrians at risk of tripping, falling, or slipping. All cracks, potholes, and other impurities in the pavement should be corrected.
These issues in the pavement could also cause issues for those driving in their cars as well. Aside from impurities in the pavement, you also need to maintain the paint and striping on the pavement as well. If lines are blurred and the paint is faded, traffic flow won’t be as clear to cars.
4. Provide Enough Lighting
For evening hours, you’ll need enough lighting for both pedestrians and cars. Lights should be placed near all entrances and exits and the use of a parking lot light pole throughout the parking lot is also ideal. Any areas where trash bins and recycling bins are located should have proper lighting as well.
Keep in mind that lights will go out over time, and it’s essential that you maintain the lights as well. Light maintenance not only includes replacing burnt out light bulbs, but it also includes keeping the lights free of obstructions as well. You might need to trim trees or bushes to ensure nothing’s blocking the light.
5. Use Signs and Directions
If you want the flow of traffic to be smooth at all times, you’ll need to use signs and other forms of directions in your parking lot. Without proper signage and directions, cars might not know which direction to go when entering or exiting. They might not be able to see pedestrians when backing up either.
Directional arrows will guide cars and mirrors in blindspots will aid cars when backing up. Use brightly-colored lines and stripes on the pavement to direct two-way traffic, handicap spaces, emergency lanes, parking spots, and more.
6. Install Security Cameras
Installing security cameras will help keep pedestrians safe and help determine the cause of accidents when they do happen. Installing a surveillance system allows you to monitor your parking lot with ease. To make the cameras effective though, you’ll need someone to monitor these cameras.
Consider hiring patrols and security officers to monitor the surveillance and parking lot for you. If you own a business, you can have security officers escort your employees to their cars during the evening hours as well for even more safety.
7. Install Access Control Systems
Access control systems are a great way to keep unauthorized cars from entering your parking lot. These control systems work by only allowing those with a certain type of badge or key to access the parking lot. When the only people who are allowed inside the parking lot are those who work for the company or clients, the crime rate will drop.
The number of accidents will drop as well since there won’t be as many cars coming and going.
Incorporate These Parking Lot Safety Tips Today!
If you own a parking lot either connected to your business or other property that you own, then you need to incorporate these parking lot safety tips. Be sure to use some of the tips listed above if not all.
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