As the holiday shopping season officially kicks off later this week with Black Friday sales, ICBC is asking drivers to prioritize safety over finding the perfect parking spot.
According to the insurance corporation, hundreds of crashes occurred in parking lots last year.
While most parking lot crashes happen at low speeds and only result in vehicle damage, ICBC says dealing with the aftermath of any crash is the quickest way to turn anyone into a Grinch as it receives hundreds of thousands of vehicle damage claims every year, with costs exceeding $1.5 billion.
Based on a sample of mall parking lots in B.C. ICBC found:
• An average of 200 crashes occurred at mall parking lots in 2017.
• Most crashes occur in December.
• Most crashes occur between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.
• Most crashes occur on a Friday or Saturday.
ICBC says while some mistakenly believe driving in parking lots is safer than ion roads due to lower speeds, drivers need to continue practicing safe driving habits. Parking lots, it adds, present drivers with unique challenges such as increased congestion and heavy pedestrian activity.
“The holiday season could add a layer of distraction with people more apt to be preoccupied with their shopping list or finding a parking spot,” it says in a news release.
Drives are reminded the rules of the road still apply, even on private property. Drivers should avoid cutting diagonally through a lot and travel only in the appropriate lanes and don’t use your phone while driving. Instead, program your navigation or holiday tunes before you start your vehicle.
It has released a number of recommendations for drivers heading to malls to do their Christmas shopping:
• Back into parking spaces so vehicles face out in the parking spot. This position, it says, is safest for drivers because it helps avoid the risk of reversing into a lane with potential blind spots when leaving.
• Drivers should also park further away, if they can to reduce the need to circle endlessly to get a spot that’s closest to the mall entrance.
• Slow down and be on alert: Drivers should drive slowly in parking lots to have enough time to react to an unexpected vehicle backing out of their parking spot or an unanticipated pedestrian, especially young children, who may be harder to see.
• Pay attention to arrows and stop signs. Many parking lots are narrow, restricting certain lanes to a single direction. Pay attention to the signs and markings on the road to avoid getting into a crash.
• Don’t block traffic. Deciding to follow a shopper, then waiting for him or her to load their car, buckle up and leave, jams up traffic behind you and likely takes you much longer than if you had just found a spot further away. Sitting idle in a lane can leave you vulnerable to a collision, and you could be blocking other drivers who are trying to leave.
• Let it go. There’s no sense in having a showdown with another driver over a parking spot.
ICBC says overall the number of crashes in B.C. peaked in 2017, with 350,000 last year, or 960 a day. The total cost of claims in 2017 was $4.8 billion, or $13 million a day.
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