Holiday shopping season is approaching and ICBC is telling drivers to put safety as the top of their list on the roads and in parking lots.
According to ICBC, there were 96,000 crashes in parking lots resulting in 4,300 casualties, which included 480 injured pedestrians last year. This totaled to about $1.33 billion vehicle damage costs.
Shopping season causes distraction in drivers in addition to more traffic and pedestrians on the road which can be avoided with planning.
For drivers, ICBC recommends:
- Don’t use your phone while driving
- Reverse-park your cars in a parking spots – you can see pedestrians and cars more easy when leaving
- Park further away if you can to avoid traffic
- Slow down and be alert
- Pay attention to parking lot stop signs and arrows
- Let the parking spot go – no need to fight for a parking spot because you might find a better one.
