Sometimes when I look out at a busy parking area I see a herd — a moving multitude of four-wheeled wildlife — penned into a corral. Let something spook a member of that herd and there’s no telling what will happen.

At those moments, the fence around that corral better hold. The ‘fence’ might be a wall, a guardrail, or a line of bollards.

On August 4, 2012, a driver got honked at — twice — while trying to back out of a space in a multi-level parking structure in San Diego. Flustered, he confused his gas pedal for his brake, drove into a guardrail and went over the side.

That fence didn’t hold. As a police officer said to a 10News reporter at the scene when describing the guardrail that failed to stop the vehicle: “It…wouldn’t take a lot to go straight through that.”

Why did that guardrail have all the stopping power of toothpicks? I asked veteran consultant Jerry Marcus, owner of The Parking Advisory Group LLC in The Woodlands, Tex., to speculate.

“One possible explanation for this failure is poor maintenance of the facility’s barrier systems connections,” said Jerry. “Most likely, these connections were designed to code standards. Unfortunately, in many cases the every day wear and tear in a parking structure goes undetected. Patrons bump walls, connections deteriorate in the open air, and operators don’t take enough care to wash down corrosive ice melting chemicals frequently. An annual schedule of inspections will go a long way to keeping those ‘cows’ home.”

Coincidentally, ASTM International is developing a proposed new standard for testing low speed vehicle barriers, which is important news for safety-conscious designers and engineers.

What experiences have you had with parking area barriers? And how have standards and maintenance practices helped you keep your customers safe? All comments welcomed.

Cindy Campbell recently wrote an excellent blog post about being trained for the unexpected after a suicide took place in one of her parking facilities. In the past few weeks, there have been several examples in the news of people threatening to commit suicide by jumping out of parking garages. Thankfully in both cases, the police and authorities were trained for the unexpected.

Andy Troth (CAPP) and I wrote an article [PDF] about suicide for The Parking Professional a few years ago after dealing with suicide jumpers at our own parking facilities. The article outlines why suicide from jumping happens, where suicide from jumping most commonly occurs, how parking professionals should handle this tragic event should it occur in their garage, and how to help prevent suicide from happening. We reached out to some suicide experts, including Lanny Berman, Ph.D., ABPP, executive director with the American Association of Suicidology. What we found is that parking garages are prone to suicide attempts because they provide easy access to great heights, and jumping from great heights offers a high certainty of death. Suicide by jumping from a parking garage affects all market segments especially universities, hospitals and municipalities, so shouldn’t we be prepared?

To learn more on how to handle this situation should it occur in your facility, check out the article or visit IPI’s webinar on the subject.

Witnesses said it sounded like a bomb going off.

The sound they heard was no bomb. It was a 76-year-old woman driving her Toyota Camry through the glass entrance of a Publix supermarket in Palm Coast, Fla., on Saturday, April 14.

Store cameras caught video of the car coming from the parking lot, crashing in through the windows, sending a baby carriage — and its three-month-old occupant — flying, and hitting other people before coming to rest on top of an 83-year-old man.

News reports said the driver mistakenly hit her car’s gas pedal instead of the brake.

The Publix accident occurred just one day after a new report [PDF] from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) spotlighting the problem of pedal confusion made headlines.

The Associated Press announced the report, noting:

Accidents in which drivers mistakenly hit the gas instead of the brake tend to involve older female drivers in parking lots, a new government study has found.

One of the study’s most striking and consistent findings was that nearly two-thirds of drivers who had such accidents were female. When looking at all crashes, the reverse is true — about 60 percent of drivers involved in crashes are male, the [NHTSA] study noted. Another finding: Gas pedal accidents tend to occur more frequently among drivers over age 76 and under age 20.

While the prominent role of pedal confusion comes as no surprise to anyone tracking media accounts of vehicle-into-building accidents, the report’s spotlighting women drivers is nonetheless provocative. I hope that rather than inciting finger pointing, NHTSA’s work leads both to greater awareness and to a better understanding of why drivers of either gender or any age mistake the gas pedal for the brake.

Have you encountered such accidents in your own parking facility? Did they result in any changes in how you configure spaces or keep cars and pedestrians safely separated?

When safety and security of a parking lot or facility was mentioned before September 11, 2001, many rolled their eyes and yawned.  Since that unforgettable day, the concept and actions in parking security have taken on a new dimension. We all have a dog in the hunt.  So where do we begin?  Let’s start at the extreme and work back to the day-to-day.

1. Terrorism: The greatest threat to our lots and facilities is an act of terrorism from a vehicle bomb. Parking facilities are often very attractive to people who wish to do us harm. Our facilities and lots are in key locations to do damage. What can we do?  IPI has partnered with the First Observer Program to train parking professionals on what to look for and what to do. In short, if it doesn’t look right report it! Our employees need to be the eyes and ears for bad people trying to do bad things. If you want training for your staff, click here. It’s free. More than 8,000 parking professionals are now First Observers. Are you?
2. Basic Safety: We all need to walk our lots and facilities in daylight and at night.  How do you feel? Certainly lighting is a critical factor. Better ideas?
3. Cameras: Most believe that if you have cameras, there is an expectation that they are monitored. If they are not, there should be signs to indicate that the cameras are for management purposes.
4. Elevators and Stairways: The use of glass and openness has helped significantly with the feeling of security. Closed-in spaces can create fear and concern.  What are best ideas and practices?
5. Entrances: Restrict pedestrian flow into a facility to specific pathways that can be observed or filmed. Watch shrubbery and bushes that can hide attackers. Some facilities have wire mesh screens to prevent access in areas other than designated entrances.
6. Lighting: What is the proper or best lighting level for parking lots and facilities?  What are the most cost-efficient types of lights?
7. Panic or “Blue Light” Buttons: Are they useful?  Buttons with two-way communications or just call technology? With the prevalence of cell phones, some facilities are re-thinking the need. What is your stance?
8. Bus Stops: How do we protect and secure bus stops and reduce waiting time? Will mobile technology and GIS capability on transit vehicles provide real-time information about arrivals and delays?

What other questions should we be asking and what answers can you share?