During the busy holiday season, there are many distractions that make parking lots a fairly dangerous place to be.
The combination of early sunset, increased traffic and pedestrians, scam artists, vandals and thieves, and people in a rush, can sometimes be a deadly combination. Just a momentary distraction or lapse in judgment can lead to tragedy.
Parking lot accidents can also turn into a liability for your company or result in an employee being injured and filing a workers’ comp claim.
Fourteen percent of all collisions in the U.S. each year happen in parking lots, and can result in costly insurance claims for vehicle damage. Even worse, it one of your employees strike and injure a visitor, the costs are even higher in terms of both dollars and emotional distress.
Disseminate these basic tips to your employees to help keep everyone safe during the especially busy holiday season:
- Check your surroundings before you get in your car
- Backing up is dangerous. Be certain that nothing and no one is behind you before backing out of your parking space
- Keep your foot off of the gas as you back up, and be ready to break in an instant
- Look in every direction before pulling into a spot, or backing out of one
- Don’t text and drive
- Slow down and pay close attention to speed limits
- Be careful of pedestrians who may dart in and out between parked cars
- Park only in areas that are well-lit
- Keep your car windows closed and your doors locked
- Watch for cars that may cut diagonally through the parking lot
If you own a building with a parking lot you can also have some liability.
Generally, the owner of the parking lot (whether it is a person, a business, or a property management company) has a reasonable duty to take care that people don’t get hurt on their property. This means that they have to take certain precautions to make that parking lot as safe as possible.
If there are cracks or uneven areas in the pavement, the owner needs to warn people of the danger or repair any hazards that could cause a person to slip and fall. If the parking lot becomes icy, the owner has a responsibility to make it as safe as possible, perhaps by clearing the snow and putting down salt or ice melt.
The takeaway
By training your employees on parking lot and winter driving safety as well as your keeping your parking lot free of hazards you can greatly reduce the chances of an accident and injury happening.
And it goes without saying that you should have commercial general liability (CGL) insurance, which protects you and your business from claims of injury, property damage and negligence related to your business activities.
One of the most essential parts of a CGL policy is premises liability coverage. This portion of your commercial general liability policy offers bodily injury and property damage coverage related to the ownership or maintenance of business premises.