How to use the tag in the parking lot

Often times when we rush to the grocery store to buy some items before we get home or during holiday shopping, we forget courtesy and respect for other drivers by looking for the perfect parking space. It's unfortunate that in our fast-paced lifestyles, everyday etiquette is rarely practiced, but if you want to reflect on parking etiquette, here are some steps you can take.

Steps

Step 1. Don't block other people who are also looking for a parking space while you wait for a space near the store entrance

The drivers in the cars behind you may have finished their errands and are ready to go to work or home. If the person is already leaving is one thing, but if you are sitting there waiting as he walks to the car and waiting while he places the shopping bags in the car, etc., you are probably testing the patience of the drivers behind. of you, especially if they can't pass you.

Step 2. Never let young children push the shopping cart for you

Not only is it dangerous if the parking lot is full, but also if the shopping cart is full and in an inclined parking lot, this can cause the shopping cart to crash and damage someone else's vehicle. Also, do not allow children to get on the shopping carts when they go back to the car, with the exception of small children or infants who ride in the special seat incorporated in many shopping carts, while the parent holds the cart. shopping with both hands.

Step 3. Center the vehicle in the corresponding space

Parking on the lanes will cause the driver in the adjoining parking lot to be displaced from their spot and this often results in door slamming and damage to vehicle paint.

• If you have a large truck or vehicle, or if your vehicle is larger than the spaces in your local parking lot, learn to park it well.

  

Step 4. Pull the vehicle fully into the space

This will make it easier for other drivers to see beyond your vehicle when they are backing up into the spaces adjoining you and also provides a wider line between the spaces. This can be particularly helpful when customers with loaded shopping carts are walking in a lane with moving vehicles. The only exception could be a very small compact or subcompact vehicle. With very small cars, like the Mini Cooper or Smart, park so that the rear of your vehicle is level with the other vehicles next to you, so as not to give the false impression that space is available.

Step 5. Never force a car into a space

When it's crowded, parking lots get more crowded, and special spaces for compact cars are becoming more and more common. Standard parking spaces are generally 9 feet (2.74 m) wide while compact car parking spaces are 7 feet (2.13 m) wide. Obviously, an ATV or truck won't easily fit into a compact car space, and simply put, it's not supposed to.

Step 6. Remove the trailer hitches if they are too far out of the vehicle

These hitches, usually made of heavy steel and often with sharp corners, can be very dangerous to distracted pedestrians who walk too close to parked vehicles to make room for moving vehicles.

Step 7. Watch out for drivers backing up in blind spots

Small vehicles parked between large vehicles, such as vans and ATVs, often have to blindly back out of their spaces; so be careful and give them their space. If you are walking by where a vehicle is in this situation, stop for a moment if you can and guide the driver out of that difficult space.

Step 8. Contemplate the legal aspects of driving in a parking lot

You are not likely to be stopped by the police, but there are laws that regulate the operation of a vehicle within a parking lot, just like for highways. Take into account the following:

• Speed limit signs. Many large parking lots have speed limit signs; These are for the safety of pedestrians and other drivers; please take them into account and obey them.

  

• One-way signs and signage. In parking lots with diagonal spaces, individual lanes can be one-way; they are almost always marked with a directional arrow painted on the pavement at the end of each lane. Even if the lane is not marked, it is better to assume that the lane is one-way if the diagonal spaces are located in the same direction on both sides.

  

• Spaces for the disabled and for the elderly. Parking spaces for the disabled are almost always clearly marked with special lines and signs, and are wider than regular spaces to accommodate wheelchairs. These are located near the handicap ramps, usually near the business entrance. If you don't need to use these spaces and you don't have permission to use them, park somewhere else.

  

• Stop and yield signs. They mean the same thing in parking lots and on city streets; allow the right-of-way to a vehicle driving in a certain lane or direction and must be obeyed.

  

• Pedestrian crossings. They are usually near the main entrance of large businesses for the safety of pedestrians when returning to their vehicles. They are usually marked with diagonal white or yellow lines and often with a pedestrian crossing sign or a stop sign.

  

• Use your turn signals. When you use your turn signals, you tell other drivers what your intentions are; so, use them to indicate what you will do.

  

Step 9. Keep the parking lot clean

Nobody likes to see trash flying around in the parking lot while on the go or out of business; So save empty fast food wrappers, ashtray contents, drink bottles, and other potential debris until you find a trash can to throw them away. This also includes flyers and business documents, including those that are often placed under the windshield wipers while searching for the deal of the day.

Step 10. Place shopping carts, dollies, and baskets in designated areas

Many large stores have a playpen for shopping carts when customers have finished loading items into their vehicles. By putting shopping carts in these locations, you will make that shopping cart you used less likely to dent someone else's vehicle.

Step 11. Control the children as they walk through the parking lot

This will protect them from distracted drivers and make parking safe for everyone.

Step 12. Avoid skipping the planters

This is especially important in landscaped areas within boundary beds, as jumping over planters can damage plants and irrigation components.

Step 13. Drive slowly when it is raining

Driving like on a highway or even at a speed like the speed of the streets in a parking lot can cause you to splash a pedestrian or even another driver who is driving with the window of your vehicle open.

Step 14. Resist the urge to honk (or curse with your hands) at other drivers

You may think that they have been abusive to you, but show tolerance instead of anger, show more class and avoid reciprocal aggression. Learn how to defuse anger and how to respond to a rabid driver on the road.

Step 15. Park only in assigned spaces

It is annoying and often dangerous to park along the curb, with the exception of unloading areas, to unload a heavy item or to assist a poorly mobile individual with their load.

Step 16. Use your turn signals

Warn others, with your turn signals, when you have found a parking space to reduce unnecessary confusion in parking lots. Sometimes when two vehicles have found the same parking space at the same time and are coming from opposite directions, the first one to turn on their turn signals is the one with the right to take the space.

Step 17. When you park in perpendicular spaces, do not park on the opposite side

The parking lots are designed so that you park straight ahead and back out. All drivers expect you to do that, but when you park on the opposite side you cause accidents and you will run into traffic when you exit the parking lot.

Step 18. Do not park inside the parking space if you are driving a small car (Honda Fit, Smart Car, Kia Rio, etc

), so that another person cannot see you when they are looking for a parking space. Park in the space, out of the line of traffic, but not so far in that your vehicle cannot be seen from the lane. You can save yourself some damage that can be caused by someone who cannot see your vehicle and tries to park very quickly in your space.

Step 19. When you park in a space and open the doors, be aware of the vehicles around you to avoid hitting, denting, scratching or impacting the doors, as fixing the doors can be very expensive

Advice

• Most people take a long time to find a parking space nearby, but they would find one faster if they looked further afield and walked a bit.
• Consider backing up. It's easier to see and be seen while backing up to park than when backing up to exit, and it is safer to exit the parking space than backing out. Look for reverse parking signs. Many parking lots do not allow parking that way. It takes longer to park in reverse than it does to back out of the parking space, and a heavily trafficked parking lot can become congested faster.
• Do not use the spaces reserved for the disabled. Vehicles that do not have a disability tag cannot park in these spaces. The proper handicap parking permit must be used and used appropriately. If the owner of the disabled parking permit is not in the car or does not get out of the car, that space cannot be used. That would be taking space away from those who really need it. Violations of parking regulations can result in very costly fines.
• Choose a space to park away from the building. Few people like to park in remote spaces, so there will be fewer problems and it will be safer. Also, you get a little exercise when you walk.
• Keep trash in a trash can or trash bag in your vehicle. This will prevent garbage from being blown into the wind in a parking lot when you open the door.
• The tag in the parking lot is also for pedestrians. Don't walk in the middle of the lanes; don't cross lanes without looking making a car unable to turn. If you go to the store and see a shopping cart near you, take it back to the store or use it.
• If you've been blessed with good legs, leave the closest parking spaces for the elderly or people with young children. Even if you arrived first, let someone you think will have a lot more difficulty leaving than you.
• Do this when you visit a business during peak hours. You will be rewarded with a closer space.
• Be courteous when you see a vehicle backing up from a parking space. Leave enough space for him to get out completely and don't block him with your vehicle while backing up.
• If you see an abandoned shopping cart as you walk through the parking lot to the business, take it back to the store or corral.
• If you are heading to the store, grab a shopping cart from the parking lot instead of waiting to get one inside the store; even if they are a bit wet or cold, they are just as good as those inside the store.
• Leave the stones, plants, etc. in dividing planters so others can be delighted to see them, so rain and snow can water them, and so they collect loose debris.
• If you decide to park next to a planter, stick to it to give the person parking on the other side more room.

Warnings

• The disability of a person may not be clearly visible (problems with the back, with the heart, with breathing, etc.). If they have the parking permit, it is because it has been given to them by the doctor and the Department of Motors and Vehicles. Despite the possibility that the permit may be borrowed, do not yell at them or question their disability status because you do not know their problem and because it is rude.
• Anger in parking lots can lead to violence, so disrespecting others can ruin your shopping trip. You don't want someone to damage your vehicle while shopping.
• It's not just distracted drivers who don't see young children. They are also the distracted parents who neglect their young children. Even the best driver cannot see a child smaller than the cover of his vehicle.
• Even if you adopt these polite practices, don't expect others to do the same. Be careful about letting your expectations for the behavior of others contribute to your own "potential parking anger."